UC Berkeley Recent Work Title Shared Micromoblity Policy Toolkit: Docked and Dockless Bike and Scooter Sharing Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/00k897b5 Authors Shaheen, Susan, PhD Cohen, Adam Publication Date 2019-04-01 DOI 10.7922/G2TH8JW7 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California SHARED MICROMOBILITY POLICY TOOLKIT DOCKED AND DOCKLESS BIKE AND SCOOTER SHARING SUSAN SHAHEEN AND ADAM COHEN APRIL 2019 doi:10.7922/G2TH8JW7 The authors would like to thank the 11th Hour Project of the Schmidt Family Foundation for generously funding this effort. We would also like to thank the Smart Cities Lab, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), and the Electrification Coalition for their support of cities in their efforts to shift mobility to a shared, electric, and active transportation future. We would also like to thank the peer reviewers who provided feedback on this toolkit. This work was performed by the authors as independent consultants. All opinions contained in this report reflect the independent views a nd analysis of the authors. SHARED MICROMOBILITY POLICY TOOLKIT DOCKED AND DOCKLESS THIS TOOLKIT OUTLINES POLICIES AND BIKE AND SCOOTER SHARING PRACTICES FOR CITIES INTEGRATING SHARED MICROMOBILITY INTO THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT. OVERVIEW 1 WHAT IS SHARED MICROMOBILITY AND WHAT IS SHARED MICROMOBILITY AND WHAT ARE ITS WHAT ARE ITS IMPACTS? IMPACTS? Shared Micromobility – the shared use of a bicycle, scooter, or other 2 WHO USES SHARED low-speed mode – is an innovative transportation strategy that enables MICROMOBILITY? users to have short-term access to a mode of transportation on an as- needed basis. Shared micromobility includes various service models and transportation modes that meet the diverse needs of travelers, such as station-based bikesharing (a bicycle picked-up from and 3 SHARED MICROMOBILITY POLICIES AND returned to any station or kiosk) and dockless bikesharing and scooter PRACTICES sharing (a bicycle or scooter picked up and returned to any location). Early documented impacts of shared micromobility include increased mobility, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, decreased automobile use, economic development, and health benefits. 4 CONCLUSION WHO USES SHARED MICROMOBILITY? Some studies suggest that the market potential for micromobility could include between 8 to 15 percent of trips under five miles and grow to $200B to $300B in the U.S. There are limited studies of dockless micromobility, and while early studies suggest that users are often Caucasian, generally younger and upper-to-middle income, some of the cities who provided feedback on this Toolkit have noted evidence that counter those findings. Convenience may be a core motivator for using dockless micromobility. SHARED MICROMOBILITY POLICIES AND PRACTICES Curb space management is a term used to describe a transportation design and policy approach that requires curb access to be planned, designed, operated, and maintained to enable safe, convenient, and multimodal access for all transportation users. This section reviews best practices and case studies for curb space management and related policies, including equity programs, enforcement, data sharing, and performance metrics for establishing pilot programs and policies for micromobility. CONCLUSION This section concludes with a summary of key findings from this toolkit. SHARED MICROMOBILITY POLICY TOOLKIT 1 | Docked and Dockless Bike and Scooter Sharing 1 WHAT IS SHARED MICROMOBILITY AND WHAT ARE ITS IMPACTS? SHARED MICROMOBILITY POLICY TOOLKIT 2 | Docked and Dockless Bike and Scooter Sharing motor. The most common scooters today are WHAT IS SHARED MICROMOBILITY? made of aluminum, titanium and steel (Figure 1.1 SHARED MICROMOBILITY – THE SHARED USE OF – Lower Left); and A BICYCLE, SCOOTER, OR OTHER LOW-SPEED ▪ Moped-style scooter sharing using shared MODE – IS AN INNOVATIVE TRANSPORTATION scooters with a seated-design, electric or gas- STRATEGY THAT ENABLES USERS TO HAVE powered, generally having a less stringent SHORT-TERM ACCESS TO A MODE OF licensing requirement than motorcycles designed TRANSPORTATION ON AN AS-NEEDED BASIS. to travel on public roads (Figure 1.1 – Lower Micromobility includes various service models and Right). transportation modes that meet the diverse needs of FIGURE 1.1 COMMON TYPES OF travelers, such as station-based bikesharing (a bicycle SHARED MICROMOBILITY SERVICES picked-up from and returned to any station or kiosk) and dockless bikesharing and scooter sharing (a bicycle or scooter picked up and returned to any location). Common shared micromobility modes include: Bikesharing provides users with on-demand access to bicycles at a variety of pick-up and drop-off locations for one-way (point-to-point) or roundtrip travel. Bikesharing fleets are commonly deployed in a network within a Station -based Bikesharing Dockless Bikesharing metropolitan region, city, neighborhood, employment center, and/or university campus. Bikesharing typically includes one of three common service models: ▪ Station-based bikesharing systems where users access bicycles via unattended stations offering one-way station-based service (i.e., bicycles can be returned to any station) (Figure 1.1 – Upper Standing Electric Scooter Sharing Moped-style Scooter Sharing Left); ▪ Dockless bikesharing systems where users may SHARED MICROMOBILITY IMPACTS check out a bicycle and return it to any location within a predefined geographic region. Dockless Although before-and-after studies documenting micromobility impacts are limited, a few North American bikesharing can include business-to-consumer or programs have conducted user surveys to record peer-to-peer systems enabled through third-party program outcomes. These studies suggest that a hardware and applications (Figure 1.1 – Upper number of social, environmental, and behavioral impacts Right); and are attributable to micromobility, and an emerging body of empirical evidence supports many of these ▪ Hybrid bikesharing systems where users can relationships—although more research is needed as check out a bicycle from a station and end their studies on dockless modes (bikesharing and scooter trip either returning it to a station or a non-station sharing) are limited. This section reviews key study location or users can pick up any dockless bicycle findings by station-based bikesharing, dockless and either return it to a station or any non-station bikesharing, and dockless standing electric scooters. location. STATION-BASED BIKESHARING Scooter sharing allows individuals access to scooters by By addressing the storage, maintenance, and parking joining an organization that maintains a fleet of scooters aspects of bicycle ownership, public bikesharing enables at various locations. Scooter sharing models can include cycling among users who might not otherwise use a variety of motorized and non-motorized scooter types. bicycles. Additionally, the availability of a large number The scooter service typically provides gasoline or electric of bicycles in multiple dense, nearby locations frequently charge (in the case of motorized scooters), maintenance, creates a “network effect,” where bicycles in close and may include parking as part of the service. Scooter proximity add value to bikesharing and encourage its use sharing includes two types of services: for trip purposes, such as commuting and errands (Cohen & Shaheen, 2016). ▪ Standing electric scooter sharing using shared A few North American programs have conducted before- scooters with a standing design with a handlebar, and-after studies documenting the impacts of station- deck and wheels that is propelled by an electric based bikesharing. Many of these studies have been SHARED MICROMOBILITY POLICY TOOLKIT 3 | Docked and Dockless Bike and Scooter Sharing completed by the bikesharing operators and represent bikesharing. Similar to the Twin Cities, the study also findings from a single city or region. Only a very limited found a decline in bus ridership, with just 5 percent of number of studies have researched the impacts of respondents increasing bus ridership compared to 39 bikesharing across multiple cities. A much larger body of percent that decreased it (Shaheen, Martin, Chan, literature has studied optimization issues associated with Cohen, & Pogodzinski, Public Bikesharing in North equipment balancing and lifecycle analysis to assess the America During a Period of Rapid Expansion: environment impacts of bikesharing associated with the Understanding Business Models, Industry Trends and product’s life from raw material extraction through User Impacts, 2014) (Shaheen & Martin, 2015). materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, A geospatial analysis of this study data involved repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling of mapping modal shifts and found that shifts away from bikesharing equipment. public transportation were most prominent in urban Documented user impacts of bikesharing include environments within high-density urban cores. Shifts increased mobility, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, toward public transportation in response to decreased automobile use, economic development, and bikesharing tended to be more prevalent in lower- health benefits. For example, Boston’s Bluebikes density regions on the urban periphery, suggesting estimates 267,000 users completed more than 1.7 that station-based bikesharing may serve as a first- million trips, traveled 2.1 million miles, and offset 3 and-last-mile connector in smaller metropolitan