Scooter-sharing system
Scooter-sharing systems work towards providing the public with a fast and convenient mode of transport for last-mile mobility in urban areas.
[2] Due to the growing popularity of scooter-sharing, municipal governments have enforced regulations on e-scooters to increase rider and pedestrian safety while avoiding the accrual of visual pollution.
[6] Since its launch in Santa Monica, California, United States, Bird expanded its services to over 100 cities and reached a valuation of 2 billion dollars in 2018.
Scooters are equipped with built-in GPS chips and cellular connectivity which allows them to broadcast their location in real-time during a trip.
[9] Lime has selected Singapore as the headquarters for its operations in Asia and was the first foreign company permitted to provide e-scooters within the city.
[9][14] Starting in 2019, Bird and Lime have been working alongside Japanese traffic regulators and testing local markets to assess the viability of an expansion to Japan.
[9] As of 2019, Lime provides scooter-sharing systems to more than 50 European cities including Paris, Berlin, London, Rome, Madrid, and Athens.
[33] Other competitors in the South American market include Colombian e-scooter start-up Cosmic Go, and the multinational mobility service Movo headquartered in Spain.
[9] Visual pollution is a major concern caused by scooter-sharing in cities due to users illegally parking e-scooters on sidewalks, entryways, roads, and access points.
[38] Broken bones; ligament, tendon, or nerve impairments, severe bleeding; and organ damage are other injuries experienced by electric scooter riders.
[38][40] Lime and Bird are redesigning the devices with sturdier brakes to help reduce the mechanical troubles of riding the scooters.
[40] The last-mile problem is a public transportation dilemma regarding the difficulty of moving passengers from private residences to mass-transit centers i.e. bus stops, train stations, etc.
[3] The ease of accessibility and intuitive usability of scooter-sharing systems will increase the adoption of public transportation and reduce the usage of personal vehicles.
[3][9] E-Scooters provide a means of subverting congestion and output higher speeds than the 9 mile per hour average of automobile traffic within many major urban hubs.
[9] Micromobility Investor Oliver Bruce has asserted that 4 trillion miles of automobile travel globally can realistically be replaced with scooter-sharing and other micro-mobility alternatives.
[49] In November 2019, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), in California, United States, temporarily suspended Uber subsidiary Jump's permit to rent e-scooters and bikes following Uber's failure to transmit real-time data detailing the start point, endpoint, and travel time on all rides as a part of the city's one-year pilot permit program.
[50] Uber, backed by several data privacy organizations, argues that the city's policy "constitutes government surveillance" and that little analysis is required to generate a precise log of an individual's movements.
[52][53] As of June 2018, prospective scooter-sharing companies are required by the SFMTA to submit a business plan regarding safety concerns and sidewalk clutter to receive a permit to rent and own e-scooters.
[53] In August 2018, San Francisco awarded permits to Scoot Networks and Skip, allowing each company to launch 625 e-scooters to jumpstart a year-long pilot program.
[55][36] In the meantime, councilmembers approved legislation in July to cut existing scooter fleets in half, restrict hours of operation, and introduce no-ride and safe zones.
[55] Washington D.C.’s district council has proposed legislation to establish rules to define where e-scooters can be parked, enforce speed limits, and restrict hours of operation.
[58] In response to backlash from city regulators and lawmakers, scooter-sharing companies have launched initiatives that include charity, outreach to low-income communities, and infrastructure improvements.
[63] The process does not require a background check and attracts students and young professionals who want a flexible way to earn extra money.
[63] Companies even offer additional bonuses for missing or hard to find scooters; however, the incentives have backfired because some chargers intentionally hide the device to reap the extra cash.
[47] Third-party software companies such as Maas have sought to ease access to e-scooters by developing mapping programs that compile adjacent micro-mobility options from multiple providers.
[69] Skip released a second scooter in 2018 featuring a locking mechanism to reduce theft and encourage riders to use designated parking areas.
[70] Bird has publicly advocated and provided funding for city governments to increase the number of bike lanes and improve upon the safety of existing routes.
[67] A large-scale questionnaire survey conducted by Portland State University demonstrated the gender gap in e-scooter usage: 64% identified as a man, 34% as a woman, and 2% as transgender or non-binary.
[71] A big social data based study led by University of Washington also reported similar gender gap with 34.86% identified as female and 65.14% as male.
[72] Partnering with French green-energy provider, Planète Oui [fr], has allowed Lime to convert the entirety of its charging infrastructure to be powered by renewable energy.
