Micromobility Milestone: 20 Million Trips in One Year
Our team is thrilled to have the chance to connect with experts and advocates of bikeshare and shared micromobility at the North American Bikeshare Association (NABSA) Conference this week. As shared transportation services expand across the globe, the micromobility landscape has continued to grow — with more devices, more riders, and more trips every day. We’re excited to announce that we recently hit a significant milestone: Populus has now delivered data for over 20 million trips to transportation agencies since launching our mobility management platform just one year ago.
Populus helps cities securely and efficiently use this information to influence key transportation planning and policy decisions, such as where to place new scooter parking areas and protected lanes for safer streets. In Arlington County, staff installed seven new on-street scooter parking corrals that they are now monitoring using the Populus platform.
This 20M trip milestone is a testament to the rapid pace of change in the transportation world and to the urgent need for private operators and public agencies to partner together to deliver more sustainable transportation in cities.
In just one year, we’ve delivered mobility data in more than 50 cities around the world for 20 million trips. A few key statistics about this wealth of data now being used for city planning:
- Over 20 million miles traveled on shared devices
- Top 3 cities with the most trips: Dallas (3.8 million trips), Oakland (2.2 million trips), and Indianapolis (1.6 million trips)
- 83% of trips were taken on scooters (16.7 million trips total)
- 17% of trips were taken on bicycles (3.5 million trips total)
A recent report from the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) found that use of micromobility services such as shared scooters and bikes is on the rise. Riders in the U.S took 84 million shared micromobility trips in 2018, and almost 48 million of those trips were made on newer forms of micromobility, including shared bikes without docking stations and shared electric scooters. Now, through Populus, cities can easily and securely obtain better information about where shared vehicles are parked and where rides are taking place.
The millions of trips analyzed through our platform provide cities with greater visibility into how these new transportation options are being used. We’re committed to empowering cities and operators to partner together to help shared mobility services grow in a way that maximizes their potential benefits to deliver improved safety, equitable access, and sustainability.
Are you at NABSA 2019? Say hi 👋🏼 to the Populus team at our booth or at one of two sessions at the conference:
- Tue, Oct. 1, 11:00am: Big Brother and Big Data: Getting Privacy Right
- Wed, Oct. 2, 10:30am Mitigating Micromobility Impacts: Environmental and Social Best Practices
About Populus
At Populus, we’re helping cities and private mobility providers deliver safe, efficient, and equitable streets through better data. Our core platform, Populus Mobility Manager, integrates real-time data from multiple operators (shared bikes, scooters, and cars) for cities from coast to coast. Founded by transportation PhDs from MIT and UC Berkeley, the Populus team combines over 30 years of experience building software for (and with) public agencies to plan for the future.
Are you a city or mobility operator looking for advanced data software solutions? Join us for an upcoming webinar on the opportunities to harness new mobility data for transportation policy and planning, or download our resources online.
