Hi all,
To advance its goals related to mobility, climate, equity, and safety, the city of Portland, Oregon, in 2018 conducted a pilot test to introduce shared electric scooters (e-scooters) to the urban landscape. The city viewed e-scooters as a means of shifting trips from cars to smaller, more efficient, and less-polluting vehicles. The idea was that this would lower traffic congestion, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, reduce fatalities on its streets, and offer more travel options to underserved Portlanders.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) ran three focus groups with historically underserved Portlanders: Black Portlanders, East Portlanders, and people with disabilities. Those focus groups identified several barriers to the adoption of e-scooters, including:
· Cost of using a shared e-scooter
· Safety concerns
· Some people were not physically able to ride a scooter
· Some people were not fluent in English
· Some people did not have a credit card for payment
How did PBOT address these barriers? First, they kept the cost affordable, with the price of the trip determined by its duration. Second, they built more protected lanes for scooters. For example, one area of protected lanes on 102nd Avenue resulted in a 125% increase in ridership from 2018 to 2019. Third, PBOT’s permitting process prioritized companies that offered seated e-scooters. And finally, PBOT’s permitting process prioritized companies that offered apps in multiple languages as well as options to pay in cash.
In addition to focus groups, a survey was conducted in the summer of 2019 with over 2,000 respondents. According to the survey, 28% used the scooters to commute to school or work, 24% used the scooters for recreational purposes, and only 8% had used them to get to or from transit. Additionally, 58% of e-scooter trips replaced the use of other low-carbon modes, and only 37% of e-scooter trips replaced car trips. However, that 37% shift lowered carbon dioxide emissions by 167 metric tons, according to PBOT. The average trip was 1.1 miles/1.8 km and 14 minutes in length, with winter trips being slightly shorter.
In terms of results, from 2018 to 2025, Portlanders rode e-scooters for 10.4 million km. Approximately 40% of these trips replaced car trips, which represented a reduction of about 4.2 million km of car travel.
Among other things, this program illustrates the value of running pilots (PBOT actually ran two) and conducting focus groups and surveys before full-scale implementation. If you’d like to know more about similar e-scooter programs in Chicago and Ottawa, click here.
To advance its goals related to mobility, climate, equity, and safety, the city of Portland, Oregon, in 2018 conducted a pilot test to introduce shared electric scooters (e-scooters) to the urban landscape. The city viewed e-scooters as a means of shifting trips from cars to smaller, more efficient, and less-polluting vehicles. The idea was that this would lower traffic congestion, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, reduce fatalities on its streets, and offer more travel options to underserved Portlanders.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) ran three focus groups with historically underserved Portlanders: Black Portlanders, East Portlanders, and people with disabilities. Those focus groups identified several barriers to the adoption of e-scooters, including:
· Cost of using a shared e-scooter
· Safety concerns
· Some people were not physically able to ride a scooter
· Some people were not fluent in English
· Some people did not have a credit card for payment
How did PBOT address these barriers? First, they kept the cost affordable, with the price of the trip determined by its duration. Second, they built more protected lanes for scooters. For example, one area of protected lanes on 102nd Avenue resulted in a 125% increase in ridership from 2018 to 2019. Third, PBOT’s permitting process prioritized companies that offered seated e-scooters. And finally, PBOT’s permitting process prioritized companies that offered apps in multiple languages as well as options to pay in cash.
In addition to focus groups, a survey was conducted in the summer of 2019 with over 2,000 respondents. According to the survey, 28% used the scooters to commute to school or work, 24% used the scooters for recreational purposes, and only 8% had used them to get to or from transit. Additionally, 58% of e-scooter trips replaced the use of other low-carbon modes, and only 37% of e-scooter trips replaced car trips. However, that 37% shift lowered carbon dioxide emissions by 167 metric tons, according to PBOT. The average trip was 1.1 miles/1.8 km and 14 minutes in length, with winter trips being slightly shorter.
In terms of results, from 2018 to 2025, Portlanders rode e-scooters for 10.4 million km. Approximately 40% of these trips replaced car trips, which represented a reduction of about 4.2 million km of car travel.
Among other things, this program illustrates the value of running pilots (PBOT actually ran two) and conducting focus groups and surveys before full-scale implementation. If you’d like to know more about similar e-scooter programs in Chicago and Ottawa, click here.
