A few initial thoughts and observations after watching the scooter pilot deployment in Portland:
- Nearly 50/50 split between male/female riders.
- Demand far exceeds supply.
- Scooter usage accelerates in areas with bike infra & slower speed limits.
@PBOTinfo
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- Nearly 50/50 split between male/female riders.
- Demand far exceeds supply.
- Scooter usage accelerates in areas with bike infra & slower speed limits.
@PBOTinfo
1/
Bird launched in PDX on Thursday with 200 scooters:
Initial Bird “Nest” locations were scatted across inner Portland in downtown, NW, N, SE and S Portland.
Looking at the app data: it appeared most of the fleet was depleted of battery well before the 9PM cut off.
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Initial Bird “Nest” locations were scatted across inner Portland in downtown, NW, N, SE and S Portland.
Looking at the app data: it appeared most of the fleet was depleted of battery well before the 9PM cut off.
2/
Lime launched in PDX on Friday with 200 scooters.
Similar to Bird, Lime placed scooters in multiple inner Portland neighborhoods.
Looking at the app data: the fleet was well utilized before 8pm.
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Similar to Bird, Lime placed scooters in multiple inner Portland neighborhoods.
Looking at the app data: the fleet was well utilized before 8pm.
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By Sat, both Bird & Lime concentrated their fleets of 200 scooters in the central core of Portland.
W/ a low cap & high demand, it doesn’t make sense to try & spread scooters out. They can barely provide enough supply in a specific district, let alone the whole city.
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W/ a low cap & high demand, it doesn’t make sense to try & spread scooters out. They can barely provide enough supply in a specific district, let alone the whole city.
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As part of the PBOT pilot requirements, operators have to place 20% of their fleet in East Portland.
East Portland has poor bicycle infrastructure and much higher speed limits.
Personally, I try to avoid biking there.
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East Portland has poor bicycle infrastructure and much higher speed limits.
Personally, I try to avoid biking there.
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Over the last few days, I’ve observed the majority of scooters in East Portland have low utilization rates.
Most scooters in central PDX are in use or dead by 7 PM.
East Portland is a different story. This screenshot at 8:30PM highlights the stark contrast:
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Most scooters in central PDX are in use or dead by 7 PM.
East Portland is a different story. This screenshot at 8:30PM highlights the stark contrast:
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The thing about Micromobility is that it exposes the cracks in our city infrastructure and transportation policy. It enables people to view transportation in a new way.
It causes a healthy tension.
It brings to light the hypocrisy:
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It causes a healthy tension.
It brings to light the hypocrisy:
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In summary, I hope the scooters will help accelerate bike infrastructure and transit policy conversations in Portland.
Also, I look forward to the fleet cap increase over the next few weeks!
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Also, I look forward to the fleet cap increase over the next few weeks!
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