Like other forms of transportation, ridership of shared bikes and scooters in the United States has spent the last four years digging itself out of the hole created by the COVID-19 pandemic, when movement all but halted. Its most recent numbers are just shy of the high reached in 2019, according to the Shared Micromobility in 2023 report on ridership in the U.S. and Canada, released last week by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO).
The price of those rides, however, has been on the rise as well. Prices for using bike-share “are now significantly higher than other public transportation options,” the report states, noting an average 30-minute trip on a conventional, pedal-powered bike now costs about $3 — while one-way trips taken on electric bikes or e-scooters now cost about $6.
But rising prices are not dampening desire. Micromobility users in the U.S. took 133 million trips in 2023, up 14.3 percent from last year — but still down slightly from 136 million trips taken in 2019, according to NACTO data.
Cities and regions have evolved in their attitudes toward micromobility modes, seeing them as essential parts of the transportation system. The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is exploring developing a playbook and guidance for local jurisdictions to run successful micromobility programs, said Meg Young, MDOT’s deputy director of active transportation and micromobility.
“Success for us is going to look like, safe. It’s going to be equitable. And it’s going to look like it will connect to all of our modes that we oversee,” she said during a July 9 discussion held by the Shared-Use Mobility Center. One of the state’s goals is for micromobility to connect to transit and be most accessible to households that may not have a vehicle.
“That’s who we want to see micromobility benefiting the most,” Young said. “We want to see mode shift too. But we want to look toward those populations that are transit dependent, and no-vehicle households first.”
Using micromobility to reach transportation policy goals is one of the NACTO report’s recommendations, and it suggests cities invest public money in micromobility systems to bring down their costs and ensure their long-term viability. (NACTO officials did not immediately return a request for comment on the report.)
Cities like Miami are investing in the infrastructure needed by bikes and scooters. Miami-Dade County is developing biking and walking paths under the region’s elevated Metrorail system. The concept hinges on the idea of using space “under a woefully underutilized piece of infrastructure,” said Eulois Cleckley, director and CEO of the Department of Transportation and Public Works at Miami-Dade County.
“Biking and cycling is an option that we need to be able to provide, and our infrastructure needs to be in a position to make sure people can get around in that mode,” Cleckley said at the 2024 CoMotion Miami conference in May.
When it comes to addressing transportation equity and the cost of micromobility, many programs offer income-based rates for riders. However, these generally serve some of the low-income users but leave out “many still struggling with rising cost-of-living expenses,” according to the report.
Some cities have taken to offering incentives to residents to buy outright micromobility devices like bikes and scooters, eliminating the need for signing up to rent-to-ride programs. The incentives often take the form of cash rebates available at the time of purchase.
This can have the dual effect of encouraging more residents to purchase an e-bike and marketing more broadly about biking options, said Luke Jones, a professor of economics at Valdosta State University in Georgia. Jones was one of four authors of a recent report, Consumer Purchase Response to E-Bike Incentives: Results From a Nationwide Stated Preference, which looked at the effectiveness of incentive programs in helping people buy e-bikes. The incentives can also have a marketing effect around e-bikes, he added.
“There's the promotional effect: do the incentives, create buzz and interest in e-bikes; that broadens the market and makes more people want to buy them even without a discount,” he said in a March email.
Micromobility by the Numbers
- Number of trips taken in the United States by shared bikes — 68 million
- Number of trips taken in the United States by shared e-scooters — 65 million
- U.S. city with the highest number of bike-share trips — New York City (35 million trips)
- U.S. city with the highest number of e-scooter trips — Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; and Denver (5 million trips each)
- Typical length of trip on e-bike or e-scooter — 11 to 12 minutes
- Average cost of e-bike or e-scooter trip in U.S. in 2023 — $6
- Cost of 15-minute e-bike or e-scooter trip in Arizona — $11