Micromobility

Even large car-dependent cities like Houston and Los Angeles are serious about reducing the auto traffic on highways as these cities reimagine transit and other transportation investments.

Scooter-share systems continue to rise in popularity around the U.S. as bike-share systems break ridership records. With options to pick from, cities are navigating new and maturing relationships with operators.

Some members of the Grand Forks City Council are concerned about the challenges a shared electric scooters system in city limits could bring. Proponents have said scooters would give area students better mobility.

The growing popularity of electric scooters prompted officials on the Charleston Public Safety Committee to reconsider longstanding prohibitions against the vehicles on public streets.

Chandler Flex, a new on-demand, microtransit service in Chandler, Ariz., is being touted as a free transportation option for students in need of rides to before- and after-school activities and other events.

Staffing shortages and the lasting shifts to commuter patterns has pumped the brakes on the recovery of transit ridership. Even as gas prices reach record highs across the country, ridership hasn’t seen a large uptick.

The smart management and analysis of micromobility data is part of making the devices integrated pieces of the larger transportation ecosystem and vision, experts say. In Chicago, Populus will help manage this data effort.

The possibility of opening 160 miles of trails to electric bicycle riders was shut down at a meeting of transit authorities in the San Francisco Bay Area, a major disappointment to bicycle advocates.

Highly detailed data around cycling and pedestrian activity has not always been easy to come by. Public officials and micromobility advocates stress the need for better data to make the case for more and better infrastructure.

Planning and paying for trips across multiple transportation modes in San Antonio, Texas, can now be accomplished in a single app, enabling a long-sought customer convenience.

Micromobility operators Superpedestrian and Helbiz will partner with Populus to gather and analyze trip, crash, infrastructure and other data to give cities better planning tools to make bike and scooter travel safer.

Watchers of micromobility are seeing closer partnerships and collaborations between scooter and bike-share operators and other providers of mobility services such as public transit and ride-hailing.

The City Council on Monday voted to approve a one-year licensing agreement with Bird Rides to deploy as many as 200 shared electric scooters. The company will initially deploy between 25 and 35 devices.

Regional government organizations in Sacramento, Calif., and Denver have taken an oversight and data collection role around micromobility operations, showing that they are well positioned to navigate these planning efforts.

The city is considering another bout of regulation around the on-demand devices, citing safety concerns. But experts are divided over whether or not the popular transportation option needs more rules.

The state of Michigan and the National Park Service will be partnering on a number of transportation projects to address issues like congestion and parking, as well as increase electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

In New York City over the span of a day, malfunctioning lithium-ion batteries have led e-bikes to catch fire, leaving a dozen people injured. Last year, four people died due to similar fires.

After almost a year and a half of allowing electric scooters on its streets, Seattle has seen the number of scooter trips dwarf the number of bike trips. Some city council members still have safety concerns, however.