Leading e-scooter operators issue recommendations to help cities integrate shared mobility

Five of the world’s leading operators of  e-scooters and e-bikes have worked together to produce a list of ten recommendations aimed at making it easier for cities around the world to integrate shared micro-mobility into their transportation environment. 

The operators in question are:  Dott, Lime, Superpedestrian, TIER Mobility and Voi, who between them  operate over 750,000 vehicles across 37 countries. 

The recommendations fall into two sections: Administration and  Operations to: ‘define the best environment the service should function in and highlighting the best way to regulate programmes to be financially sustainable over the long term’

The recommendations specify the optimum number of operators in a city, based on the number of scooters being used. It also recommends fleet sizes in terms of e-scooters that should be available per square kilometer and suggests how the fleet should grow as the scheme matures. 

More technical recommendations cover data sharing, vendor fees, and vendor selection protocols as well as encouraging cities to consider reliability, safety, sustainability and fleet management as the top selection criteria. 

Focusing on rider experience, the recommendations include contract terms long enough for riders to become familiar with a brand’s service and rely on it, contiguous coverage areas so riders are not stopped mid-journey, and practical parking schemes which allow riders to park at their destination.

The CEO’s of the five companies issued a collective statement: ‘In a pretty short time, the micromobility industry experienced huge growth, providing the strongest challenge yet to personal car use in cities. To ensure ongoing sustainability and global consistency, we combined our expertise to develop recommendations to cities that we believe are best-practices for regulating micromobility programmes. We have created a strong framework that has the potential to greatly improve the micromobility experience for riders and non-riders alike, allowing cities to experience the best of what our services provide. 

‘We came together to issue these recommendations. Now that we’ve demonstrated what conditions lead to sustainable services, we’re looking forward to working with city authorities to put these recommendations into action.’