You must have seen people traveling on e-bikes and e-scooters in cities like California and New York. If you are wondering about this new trend, it’s called micromobility and aims to solve the transportation problems of urban spaces and cities.
Micromobility generally refers to short commutes of less than 5 miles and vehicles that don’t go beyond 15 miles/hour. The scooters and bikes use clean energy like rechargeable batteries to fight climate change and provide a sustainable means of transport.
The micromobility market is expected to grow to $300 billion by 2030 in the USA alone. In fact, Micromobility startups have already pumped in $5.7 billion into the industry and looking to capture new cities and urban spaces around the world.
Today, we will explore the trend, its advantages, challenges and the future of micromobility.
Micromobility generally refers to short commutes of less than 5 miles and vehicles that don’t go beyond 15 miles/hour. The scooters and bikes use clean energy like rechargeable batteries to fight climate change and provide a sustainable means of transport.
The micromobility market is expected to grow to $300 billion by 2030 in the USA alone. In fact, Micromobility startups have already pumped in $5.7 billion into the industry and looking to capture new cities and urban spaces around the world.
Today, we will explore the trend, its advantages, challenges and the future of micromobility.
The Factors Behind the Growth of Micromobility
Micromobility is gradually becoming popular across the world for its convenience an environment friendliness. Let’s go over some factors which have directly contributed to the growth of micromobility.Last Mile Transport
The last mile transport has always remained a challenge for urban spaces. City planners have long debated what to adopt to provide a cost-effective means of short transportation. Shared Mobility has emerged as one of the cheapest and fastest ways of reaching from point A to point B. In fact, in USA, 60% of all trips are 5 miles or less- providing a great opportunity for the growth of micromobility.Cheaper Mode of Travel
It takes only a few dollars to ride e-bikes or e-scooters. The charges are much lesser compared to cabs and traditional transportation modes. So cheap rates is also a growth factor for micromobility.
Challenges of Micromobility
Even though micromobility is a growing trend, it has its share of challenges. Some of the challenges are related to the infrastructure of the city, while others deal with regulations and theft. Let’s explore some micromobility challenges in brief-Infrastructure of City
You need proper infrastructure in cities to introduce micromobility. If a city doesn’t have requirements like bike lanes or parking spaces, the adoption of micromobility becomes difficult. That’s why the adoption of micromobility is low in poor and developing countries. We need proper infrastructure so that people can travel safely without the fear of accidents or injuries. The perception towards micromobility also varies from one country to another. For example, in USA, 70% people living in urban areas view micromobility favorably. That is also the reason behind the widespread adoption of e-bikes and e-scooters across North and South America. On the other hand, countries like Africa have negative perceptions towards cycling. Africans view cycling as past time of the elites or transportation of the poor. For this reason, cycling only makes up 0.2% of all trips in cities like Johannesburg. We need to change the mindset of people to encourage alternative transportation.
