![BikeRio_users_during_Ciclovia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/BikeRio_users_during_Ciclovia.jpg)
Micromobility refers to a range of small, lightweight vehicles operating at speeds typically below 25 km/h (15 mph) and driven by users personally. Micromobility devices include
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bic ...
s,
e-bike
An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist ...
s,
electric scooters,
electric skateboard
An electric skateboard is a personal transporter based on a skateboard. The speed is usually controlled by a wireless hand-held throttle remote or rider body weight-shifting between front of the board for forward motion and rear for braking. As fo ...
s,
shared bicycle fleets, and electric pedal assisted (
pedelec) bicycles.
Initial definitions set the primary condition for inclusion in the category of micromobility to be a
gross vehicle weight of less than . However, the definition has evolved to exclude devices with
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
s and those with top speeds above .
The term "micromobility" was originally coined by
Horace Dediu
Horace H. Dediu (born February 25, 1968) is a Romanian-American industry analyst with a focus on mobile phones and especially Apple Inc., as well as micromobility.
He is known for his analysis of Apple's business strategy and predictions of thei ...
.
Characteristics
Micromobility is a wheeled type of transportation that is low-speed, operated by a single person, and meant for travel over a short distance. Micromobility can include both human-powered and electric vehicles, though electric vehicles cannot have internal combustion engines or travel over 45 km/h (25m/h) to remain classified as micromobility.
Micromobility can be both privately owned or available as rental vehicles, often in the form of dockless sharing.
Examples
Bikes, electric scooters, skateboards are all types of micromobility.
Other types include
golf carts,
kick scooters,
onewheel
Onewheel is a self-balancing single wheel electric board-sport, recreational personal transporter, often described as an electric skateboard. Unlike the electric unicycle, the rider's feet (and body) are typically pointed at a perpendicular angle ...
,
personal transporters,
roller skates
Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad ska ...
,
segways,
unicycle
A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a bicycle frame, frame with a bicycle saddle, saddle, and has a human-powered vehicle, pedal-driven direct-drive mechanism, direct-drive. A two spee ...
s,
tricycles,
handcycles,
mobility scooter
A mobility scooter is an electric vehicle and mobility aid mostly auxiliary to a power wheelchair but configured like a motorscooter. When motorized they are commonly referred to as a power-operated vehicle/scooter, or electric scooter. Non-mot ...
,
quadracycles, and
wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...
s.
Light Electric Vehicles
Many types of micromobility vehicles are also classified as light electric vehicles (LEVs). Examples of light electric vehicles include
electric bicycle
An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assis ...
s,
electric scooters,
electric skateboard
An electric skateboard is a personal transporter based on a skateboard. The speed is usually controlled by a wireless hand-held throttle remote or rider body weight-shifting between front of the board for forward motion and rear for braking. As fo ...
s,
electric unicycle
An electric unicycle (often initialized as EUC or acronymized yuke or Uni) is a self-balancing personal transporter with a unicycle, single wheel. The rider controls speed by leaning forwards or backwards, and steers by twisting or tilting the uni ...
, and onewheel.
Vehicles that are classified as LEVs differ based on individual country regulations.
Light Electric Vehicles cannot be constructed to exceed 25 km/h.
Further classification of light electric vehicle differs between countries.
The classification can be based on characteristics such as total mass and maximum power output.
Classification
Devices that fall within the definition of micromobility in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
are typically classified as bicycles and are permitted to use
bicycle infrastructure
Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except w ...
such as protected bicycle lanes, cycle tracks, cycle highways, and off-street trails. Classification as bicycles also means that users of personal micromobility modes are not required to register them, pay
vehicle registration fees, or maintain
liability insurance.
Within the European Union
vehicle categorization, micromobility vehicles fall under the L category, and are excluded from the M, N, O and higher categories.
History
Original forms of micromobility, like
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bic ...
s and scooters, have been around since 1817, but it was not until 1908 that cars began to dominate in
modal share in cities such as
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. Since then, the use of bicycles as a utilitarian
urban transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
mode (as opposed to recreation or sport) has been relatively low in comparison to trips made by private vehicles outside of a few cities in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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, and
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
.
Origins
Micromobility was originally in the form of bicycle-sharing services in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
The very first generation of
bicycle-sharing was
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
and small in scale, with the central aim to address the social and environmental impacts of
urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
.
The white bike program in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
was unveiled in 1965, where 50 white bikes were unlocked and presented to the public, completely free of charge.
Despite the program's good intentions, there were a number of significant issues resulting from theft, unorganized return spots, and overall dysfunction of the system.
Similar programs were created in the following years in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(1974) and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
(1975), all located in densely populated areas of cities.
The second generation of bicycle-sharing services revolutionized the previously non-profit program into a more organized business endeavor. With docking stations and coin depositories, this approach made its way across trans-continental borders, as
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
and
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
were notable adopters of the new model.
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
(1996),
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
(2000), and
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
(2005) were among the first three countries to include locks to deter the previous predecessor's problems. However, there was still a major issue regarding the reliability of bike-sharing: the bikes themselves.
The third generation of bicycle-sharing services attempted to establish a sense of reliability and functionality with the help of advanced technologies. Tracking of each individual bicycle was enabled, reservations could be made through smart phones, and payment options were digitally compatible.
As a result, the popularity of bicycle-sharing services reached a new peak. Over 100 sharing services were created spanning across 125 cities in 4 different continents, though France was, arguably, the most notable. The implementation of Velo’v in 2005 was the first sharing system that integrated advanced technology, resulting in over 1,500 bicycles available through reservation from Velo’v alone. LE Velo’v STAR (2009) and Vélib were other programs that were created in conjunction with this new iteration of micromobility.
The fourth generation of bicycle-sharing services integrated further functionality and compatibility with multi-modal technologies and advanced payment interfaces. E-bikes replaced the original bicycle, and fully digitized
touch screen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
kiosks provided a more user-friendly customer experience.
BIXI
Bixi, or Bi Xi (), is a figure from Chinese mythology. One of the 9 sons of the Dragon King, he is depicted as a dragon with the shell of a turtle. Stone sculptures of Bixi have been used in Chinese culture for centuries as a decorative plinth ...
, a Canadian-based service company were among the first to douse the bicycle-sharing service with 21st century technological advances.
Due to the enhanced features, BIXI became the very first large-scale
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n bike-sharing company, ultimately paving the way for further innovations with micromobility.
Pedalless
In 1655,
Stephan Farffler, a 22-year-old
paraplegic
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek ()
"half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...
watchmaker, built the world's first self-propelling chair on a three-wheel chassis using a system of
cranks and
cogwheels.
However, the device had an appearance of a
hand bike more than a wheelchair since the design included hand cranks mounted at the front wheel. The invalid carriage or
Bath chair
A bath chair—or Bath chair—was a rolling chaise or light carriage for one person with a folding hood, which could be open or closed. Used especially by disabled persons, it was mounted on three or four wheels and drawn or pushed by hand. It ...
brought the technology into more common use from around 1760.
William Kent
William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...
developed an early
stroller
Various methods of transporting children have been used in different cultures and times. These methods include baby carriages (prams in British English), infant car seats, portable bassinets (carrycots), strollers (pushchairs), slings, backpacks ...
in 1733. Strollers became affordable and widespread due to new manufacturing materials in the 1930s. The
push scooter
A kick scooter (also referred to as a push-scooter or scooter) is a human-powered street vehicle with a handlebar, deck, and wheels propelled by a rider pushing off the ground with their leg. Today the most common scooters are made of aluminum, ...
was invented by Denis Johnson in 1819 and usually constructed mainly from wood. Motorised scooters first appeared as
autoped
__NOTOC__
The Autoped was an early motor scooter or motorized scooter manufactured by the Autoped Company of Long Island City, New York from 1915 to 1922.
The driver stood on a platform with 10-inch tires and operated the machine using only the ...
s enjoying a brief boom in popularity in 1915. The aluminium folding scooter popularised the push scooter in the 1990s.
E-scooters first appeared in 2003. In 1882 a sports newspaper in Stockholm first reported a
kicksled as a vehicle that could be kicked forwards on ice and snow. In 1965,
Owen Maclaren designed a lightweight stroller with an aluminium frame further popularising the stroller. In the 1960s and 1970s
skateboards enjoyed popularity, displacing kick scooters which nearly disappeared completely.
Pedal
The pedal powered tricycle was invented by two Frenchmen, named Blanchard and Maguier in 1789. It predates the invention of the Bicycle in Germany by
Karl von Drais
Karl Freiherr von Drais (full name: Karl Friedrich Christian Ludwig Freiherr Drais von Sauerbronn) (29 April 1785 – 10 December 1851) was a noble German forest official and significant inventor in the Biedermeier period. He was born and died ...
in 1817 (which did not use pedals until the 1860s). Tricycles were not popular until 1876, when James Starley introduced the Coventry Lever Tricycle, a side-driven two-track, lever-driven machine, and that started the tricycling craze in Great Britain. This was replaced with the
bike boom of the 1890s as a result of the popular introduction of Starley's
safety bicycle.
Human-powered quadracycles were invented in 1853 and enjoyed modest popularity. This was followed by
quadricycles in 1896 which included a motor.
Recumbent bicycle
A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider's weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by ba ...
s were invented in 1893.
Velomobiles (essentially enclosed recumbents) were invented in 1927.
Velocars were invented by Mochet in 1932. The first mass-produced electric velomobile was the
Sinclair C5
The Sinclair C5 is a small one-person battery electric recumbent tricycle, technically an "electrically assisted pedal cycle". It was the culmination of Sir Clive Sinclair's long-running interest in electric vehicles. Although widely described ...
.
Rental
While micromobility vehicles have long been available for users to purchase, it was the
servitization of these modes of transportation—enabling users to use the nearest micromobility vehicle without having to purchase or store it, and facilitating the flexibility of one-way trips—that led to growth in areas where it was available. The rise of the sharing economy resulted in a massive increase in access to micromobility in many cities, first with the introduction of public bikeshare systems, and then with privately funded and operated
dockless bikeshare and electric kick scooter (e-scooter) fleets. Most early bikeshare services specified locations, or docks, where vehicles needed to be picked up and left. From 2022 on, the so-called hybrid model, locking systems that can be locked both with and without a dock at the same time, and compatible IOT platforms have been developed.
21st century
![Micromobility_users_in_Berlin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Micromobility_users_in_Berlin.jpg)
The second generation was dockless bicycle-sharing introduced in 2000, the third was dockless electric bicycle sharing introduced in 2017.
The fourth generation of bicycle sharing services employed a dockless model which allows users to end their trip and leave the shared micromobility device anywhere or within a
geo-fence
A geofence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. A geofence could be dynamically generated (as in a radius around a point location) or match a predefined set of boundaries (such as school zones or neighborhood boundaries).
Th ...
d area. Dockless bikeshare first took off in Chinese megacities, and although it began with traditional, non-electric bicycles, it served as a template for what would be possible with electric and motorized bicycles, scooters, and other form factors. The availability of relatively inexpensive batteries, displays and GPS receivers, enabled by the smartphone supply chains, provided easily accessible components to facilitate dockless services worldwide. Outside of Chinese cities, non-electric dockless bikeshare has largely disappeared, with many companies switching from bicycles to electric kick scooters in 2019.
![Grin_e-scooter_rider_in_Mexico_City](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Grin_e-scooter_rider_in_Mexico_City.jpg)
Shared electric kick scooters are considered to have one of the most rapid adoption rates in transport, nearly 4% in one year. Comparatively, it took bikeshare eight years to reach 13% adoption, and
carshare
Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...
18 years to reach 16% in major United States cities.
Popularity and reception
The speed of micromobility diffusion has not come without growing pains. Some cities were caught off guard with the sudden influx of shared dockless vehicles, especially after companies launched their fleets without municipal approval. In 2018,
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
became the first US city to establish a permanent regulatory permit requiring shared dockless vehicle operators to meet certain requirements in order to provide service in the city. Many other cities followed suit, drafting regulatory frameworks that would permit these services and more seamlessly integrate them with existing transportation.
Operators, users and municipalities are moving toward an equilibrium where the benefits of micromobility have become apparent. Micromobility users have reported replacing between one-quarter and one-third of car trips with micromobility, and many users report being able to take trips they otherwise would not or could not have made if micromobility options were not available. The potential for micromobility to replace automobile trips, coupled with financial opportunities presented by the massive injection of
venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
into the industry, has led to global automakers such as
Ford and
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
to invest in micromobility services.
However, data shows that micromobility users also replace
public transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
(notably, bus) and walking trips. Concerns have also been raised about the
life-cycle emissions of electric micromobility modes such as e-scooters, as well as the long-term financial viability of micromobility companies given minimal differences between product offerings and operating costs in the hundreds of millions of
US dollars
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from Dollar, other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American ...
.
According to
INRIX
INRIX is a private company headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, US. It provides location-based data and software-as-a-service analytics — such as real-time and historical traffic conditions, road safety, and parking availability — to automak ...
, the United States cities with the highest micromobility potential (in descending order) in 2019 were
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
,
,
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
, New York City,
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
,
Pittsburg,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
.
Infrastructure
As micromobility vehicles are road vehicles, existing road infrastructure can be used without further investment.
Infrastructure for micromobility can include cycle lanes, ramps and docking stations.
Many cycle lanes only permit bicycles.
Commercialization
Ownership model
The ownership segment of the market relies on consumers who have purchased their own micromobility vehicle, usually distributed through retailers.
The global market for bike ownership is large in comparison to other business models, due to the fact that subscription and bike-sharing models were introduced much more recently. However, the growth of the ownership/retail market for micromobility vehicles has been minor in comparison to other faster growing options such as vehicle rental as of 2021.
Rental model
Mobility as a service (MaaS) in the context of micromobility, is the rental of vehicles as a service, allowing consumers to rent vehicles for a temporary period.
Examples of companies that employ this model are
Bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
,
Dott Dott may refer to:
* Dott, Pennsylvania
* Dott, West Virginia
* Graeme Dott (born 1977), Scottish snooker player
* Marie-Luise Dött (born 1953), German politician
* Stefan Dott (born 1969), German judoka
*''Day of the Tentacle'', a computer ga ...
,
Lime
Lime commonly refers to:
* Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit
* Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide
* Lime (color), a color between yellow and green
Lime may also refer to:
Botany ...
, and
Bolt
The BOLT Browser was a web browser for mobile phones including feature phones and smartphones that can run Java ME applications. The BOLT Browser was offered free of charge to consumers and by license to mobile network operators and handset manuf ...
. One mode of payment follows the pay-per-trip model, which consists of an unlock fee, as well as a per-minute rate which is charged to the user at the end of the trip (according to model used by Bird). The subscription model is an alternative method of payment, which consists of paying an often-monthly recurring fee, to have access to the vehicle service throughout the subscribed period. According to the
Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three largest management consulting firms by rev ...
, subscription-based vehicle services are the fastest-growing option for micromobility usage, with the compound annual growth rate predicted to go up to 30% by 2030. Micromobility sharing and rental services have grown in the United States, with an approximately 60% increase in usage in 2019, compared to 2018. There were 136 million recorded micromobility service trips in 2019, of which 96 million used dockless vehicles, while the remaining 40 million used dock stationed vehicles.
Issues
There are a lot of mechanical, electrical, and human factors hazards associated with micromobility products, which calls for aggressive policies in order to reduce injuries. The three major danger categories that apply to micromobility goods are mechanical, electrical, and human factors. Falls, collisions with objects, pedestrians, and moving cars are a few examples of mechanical risks, as are structural or frame breakdowns and braking problems. Electrical risks include issues with battery charging, fires caused by mechanical battery mounting problems (battery short-circuiting), and braking issues as a result of software faults. The risks mentioned above, as well as those related to user expectations and reasonably foreseen use cases, such as those involving user positioning (for example, probable forward body positioning due to handle placement and foot area width) and the location or operation of emergency controls (for example, brakes), which affect the user's capacity to react safely in an emergency, are all examples of human factors hazards.
Safety
Ridesharing and rental scooters have increased popularity and usage of micromobility products, resulting in being potentially used in more congested areas. This might increase the chance of accidents, especially because helmet use is limited.
There have been several injuries and deaths resulting from micro mobility products especially e-scooters, which calls for tighter personal safety regulations and policies. Between 2015 and 2019, there have been over 330 fire-related incidents concerned with micromobility products which led to more $9 million in property damage. Additionally, use of self balancing scooters have resulted in more than 90000 emergency room visits from falls.
Personal micromobility safety can be improved by raising awareness and training, making safety equipment mandatory for riders universally, enforcement of
Blood Alcohol Concentration limit (BAC) limit for riders, and a safer infrastructure.
Different regions have different laws regarding micromobility. While some states in the US allow riding without helmets, others have helmets as a legal requirement while commuting on micromobility products.
United Kingdom
Due to a clause in the
Highways Act, these essential micromobility modes are currently prohibited in cycle lanes and on pedestrian walkways. Recently, meanwhile, the
Department of Transportation has taken steps to encourage legal change as part of th
"Future of Transport"program to support micromobility options and has polled the public on the subject. E-scooters and other similar modes of transportation are the subject of numerous local trials analyzing the effects, advantages, and difficulties they provide. One example that has been successful is in Cambridge, where e-bikes have recently joined e-scooters on the streets.
The European Union
Across the EU, different countries have their own legislations with respect to electric scooters and electric bikes. For example, Germany allowed e-scooters on roads with a maximum speed of 20 km/hr. In France, E-scooter parking on sidewalks is prohibited and carries a €135 fine. Additionally, e-scooters cannot technically travel at speeds greater than 25 km/h in Paris. Most countries in Europe have converged around the 25 km/h speed limit consensus.
The United States
There has been a lack of focus surrounding the micromobility sector in the US, so different states have their own laws with respect to micromobility products. At the moment, 10 states have banned the use of e-scooters in public, while 38 states permit their use. Hawaii recently incorporated electric scooters into traffic law.
Infrastructure
The recent
Inflation Reduction Act
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) is a landmark United States federal law which aims to curb inflation by reducing the deficit, lowering prescription drug prices, and investing into domestic energy production while promoting clean ener ...
has provided opportunities for improving the micromobility infrastructure globally. Some of the infrastructure limitations include a lack of charging stations and lack of bike lanes for micromobility. A proposed solution is integration of a micromobility system into the pre-existing infrastructure in order to streamline the experience. Improving the micromobility infrastructure can lead to a reduction in emissions and contribute to the
carbon neutrality goal.
Gallery
Jersey Gardens Mall 24 - Segway.jpg, Segway, hoverboard, electric unicycle
An electric unicycle (often initialized as EUC or acronymized yuke or Uni) is a self-balancing personal transporter with a unicycle, single wheel. The rider controls speed by leaning forwards or backwards, and steers by twisting or tilting the uni ...
, a-bike, electric bicycle
File:Wheels for everybody.JPG, Various 20th century micromobility vehicles
NazcaFuego.JPG, Recumbent bike
HONDA StepCompo.jpg, First folding electric bike Honda Step Compo
C5 Alive rally.jpg, Sinclair C5, the first mass-produced electric velomobile
Mobility scooter zoo.jpg, Mobility scooter
Roller Buggy.jpg, Roller Buggy baby stroller
Pyongyang Golf Course (17291627396).jpg, Electric golf cart
Boy riding Solowheel.jpg, Solowheel
2022.07.06 Shared electric kick scooters at the public transport stop in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland.jpg, Shared electric scooters at the public transport stop in town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
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{{Micromobility
Bicycle sharing
Scooter sharing
Shared transport