The Pandemic Didn’t Stop the Dockless Shared Micromobility Boom. What’s Next?
Despite many hurdles, dockless micromobility is on the rise in cities and countries around the world. We analyze the biggest trends from the NUMO New Mobility Atlas.
Ten years ago, if you saw a scooter or bike sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, you might have been confused as to why someone would leave their personal vehicle unattended. Today you’re much more likely to be familiar with the dockless, or free-floating, shared micromobility operations that can now be found in more than one thousand cities across six continents.
Since late 2019, the NUMO New Mobility Atlas has mapped dockless e-scooters, bikes and mopeds around the globe — and what a time to start documenting the proliferation of micromobility. Beginning in March 2020, the world witnessed the industry’s rapid decline in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the downfall was short-lived. The worldwide number of operations* soared past pre-pandemic numbers by the following summer.
Despite the many hurdles dockless micromobility has faced since its inception, it appears that this form of transportation is here to stay. So let’s dive into some of the most interesting trends we’ve noticed with the New Mobility Atlas.
#1: Micromobility bounced back quickly after COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020.
In addition to the total number of dockless operations, the number of operators, cities and countries with dockless micromobility options have all since grown past 2019 numbers. Additionally, the number of cities with dockless micromobility operators has nearly doubled since the mass shutdown of operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, there are about 400 more cities than counted at the end of 2019.
That general trend upward varies, however, when you look closer at different geographies, modes and operators. Much of the growth is localized in Europe, which has experienced the fastest acceleration in dockless micromobility of any continent. Europe has remained the top continent in terms of number of dockless micromobility operations since we began our analysis in 2019. Today, 70% of all dockless micromobility operations are located in Europe, compared to just 40% in 2019.
North America has also seen dockless micromobility operations increase since the start of the pandemic, though it has not yet returned to pre-pandemic numbers. The United States experienced the steepest decline after March 2020, losing more than half of existing operations. Although that number has rebounded steadily since then, it is still lower than in 2019.
The top 10 countries by number of dockless operations, all of which (aside from the U.S.) are in Europe, have seen significant growth since 2020.
#2: Most cities around the world have just one or two dockless shared micromobility operations.
Before the pandemic, the average number of dockless micromobility operations per city was greater than two. Since March 2020, however, that number has fallen and remained below two operations.
This change in density of operations can be seen when looking at the cities with the most operations over time. In 2019, Madrid topped the list of cities with the greatest number of distinct operations: a whopping 21. Currently, Barcelona holds that title with 17 operations.
Meanwhile, the percentage of cities in the Atlas with just one dockless operation has remained relatively constant, fluctuating between 61–66%. This may indicate that much of the growth of the dockless micromobility industry can be attributed to many cities adopting small pilot-like projects, rather than a few cities with established micromobility sectors rapidly increasing their operations. Cities may also be keeping the number of operators low to avoid cluttering the streets with too many vehicles.
#3: The number of dockless shared micromobility operators is growing, but many operators have consolidated.
Also on the rise since the start of the pandemic: the number of dockless micromobility operators. In the early months of 2020, there was a 17% drop in the number of operators globally, but the total number of operators has since increased by almost 50% as of the latest update to the New Mobility Atlas.**
While a considerable number of operators exist in the dockless micromobility space, more than half of all dockless operations around the world are run by just 10 companies.
This distribution of ownership has remained relatively constant since 2019 and may even become more concentrated due to significant consolidation among operators. For example, Lime acquired Jump bikes in 2020, and Tier, the company with the largest number of operations (190), recently acquired both Wind and Spin, both of which are among the top 10 operators in terms of number of operations.
While dockless micromobility as a whole has expanded, there have still been losses since the New Mobility Atlas launched. For example, 360 cities and eight countries no longer have dockless micromobility operations, and 63 operators have shut down. As a note, nearly half of the cities that have been removed from the Atlas are in China, as we could not find verifiable data on the status of operations.
What’s Next?
These trends indicate that dockless micromobility is poised to continue expanding globally. Almost daily, the number of cities and countries with free-floating bikes, electric scooters and mopeds is on the rise, as is the number of operators that provide these services. Follow shifts in dockless shared micromobility in cities around the world by signing up to receive updates about the NUMO New Mobility Atlas.
*‘Operation’ refers to a single occurrence of a dockless, shared electric scooter, bicycle or moped program by an operator in a given city
**Values as of March 2022
Lydia Freehafer is a research analyst for NUMO, the New Urban Mobility alliance.
NUMO is a global organization that channels tech-based disruptions in urban transport to create joyful cities where sustainable and just mobility is the new normal. Founded in 2019 as an outgrowth of the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities, NUMO convenes diverse allies and leverages the momentum of significant revolutions in mobility to target urban issues — including equity, sustainability, accessibility and labor — impacted by the shifting transportation landscape.
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