What’s the most frustrating part of your commute? Getting cut off at your exit? People crowding the subway door? If you’re like many people, the most frustrating thing is actually the first and last legs of your journey, getting to and from your main mode of transportation.
People have more trouble getting to and from their bus or rail stops due to distance and convenience, or finding a place to park once they reach their destination than 90% of their trip. This is referred to as the First/ Last Mile Problem.
Back in 2016 public transportation entities were aware of the problem, and cities like Los Angeles took steps to eliminate it. LA Metro committed $16.5 million to making 254 of its stations more accessible to first/ last mile methods such as bikes, cars, and drop-offs.
Rideshares such as Uber and Lyft were seen as the saving grace for the problem. They’d pick riders up, take them the short distance to their stop, and easily drop them off. However, only a small percentage of rides are actually to bus and metro stops. It takes too much time and energy (both gasoline and driver energy) to take riders half a mile to two miles to their stop.
Now transit systems are back to square one looking for new ways to get around, and micromobility, light transportation such as electric scooters and shared bicycles, is offering a new solution. Sacramento transit has partnered with Uber to have JUMP bike charging hubs available at rail stations to incentivize people to use the bikes for the last mile of their journey.
Even Google Maps is trying to help with the first/ last mile problem. If you plug a destination into the app, it will show options that include hopping in a Lyft or picking up a nearby Lime scooter to finish a trip or get to the nearest stop.
Micromobility can also help drivers who struggle with parking. BMW is introducing scooter mounts for their cars in Europe so that drivers can find a decent parking space and not worry about how far it is from their final destination.
Traveling, especially the first and last mile, will always be stressful, but with the help of micromobility, it can be a little easier.
