micromobility

Reuters / Mike Blake/ PBS

Perhaps you seen, used, or even cursed at one of those electric scooters that have been proliferating in major cities across the US and world. These scooters—along with electric or pedal-assisted bicycles and some other small means of transportation, such as electric skateboards—are part of an urban transportation trend called micromobility.

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— Bird (@BirdRide) July 30, 2019

The term was specifically applied to this transportation trend by 2017, though the word can be found earlier as a technical term in computer sciences. Mobility refers to “ways of getting around” and micro-, “small,” alluding both to the size and length of trip for these means of transportation, which are intended to be help reduce congestion, pollution, and travel times, especially in urban areas with public transportation systems.

The idea behind micromobility is to have an efficient and environmentally-friendly way of getting around cities. A rider might rent a scooter to travel a mile to get to a bus stop or subway station for a longer trip to, say, the office. These distances often called the first or last miles, i.e., the distance to or from a main mode of transportation.

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Micromobility is especially used of less electric scooter or bike sharing services like Jump, Lime, and Bird. Lime and Bird, two of the most well-known micromobility services, began in 2017 and saw extreme growth in 2018.

Typically, riders download a company’s app and pay to rent for a short period of time the e-transport devices, which are scattered across urban areas (they generally don’t have specific docking/parking stations).

While the sudden growth of micromobility has shown to reduce some congestion in cities, it also has posed issues of theft, vandalism, and safety, both to riders, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicle operators.