Using scooter data to make room for micromobility on our streets and in our cities
The rise of micromobility has offered us the chance to rethink how we use our streets — with access to better data
Since shared electric scooters and bikes hit the streets, urban planners have grappled with how best to manage and plan for these new services that have taken cities by storm. One of the exciting opportunities that has emerged along with the rise of micromobility, is the rise of newfound access to vast amounts of data for cities to plan for the future of transportation, and to rethink how we prioritize the space on our streets.
How we used scooter data to identify new opportunities for protected lanes
Populus is a trusted third-party data platform solution that securely delivers data from shared operators of scooters, bikes, and cars to cities for transportation policy and planning. We ingest vehicle location and trip data that new city regulations require of mobility operators in exchange for the privilege to deploy services on their streets, sidewalks, and curbs.
Now delivering data in over 40 cities, with the world’s largest micromobility operators, the Populus team specializes in extracting key insights that urban planners need and want to determine how to integrate growing fleets of shared services into the fabric of our cities — only a job that the public sector can do.
That’s why we’re excited to introduce Populus Routes, a new advanced tool in our Populus Mobility Manager platform that enables cities to easily visualize where scooter trips take place. Armed with validated data about hundreds (and often millions) of scooter trips in their cities, planners can decide where to place protected bike and scooter lanes for people to safely use these services.
Populus receives vehicle trip data from bike and scooter operators in standard formats that we process to help cities view popular origins, destinations, and travel routes. Using trip level data, we aggregate volumes across road segments and paths throughout a city. The aggregation of trips prevents the ability to identify individual trips or people, which has become a growing privacy concern. With data securely processed and obfuscated by transportation planners and scientists with decades of experience, operators are assured that their data is protected, and cities are confident that they have access to the essential information they need to manage these new services.
The road ahead
We are excited to continue to partner with cities and fleet operators to help them work together to expand access to sustainable mobility solutions in cities. In addition to our parking management tools, which help cities and operators identify and enforce designated parking areas for scooters to ensure pedestrian safety, Populus is continuously expanding features for cities and mobility operators to deliver shared mobility that is safe, equitable, and sustainable.
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? Reach out to us at hello@populus.ai or join Populus for an upcoming webinar on the opportunities to harness new mobility data for transportation policy and planning.
