City should continue to encourage mobility
Bright orange scooters now share — and sometimes command — Pittsburgh’s sidewalks. They’re an integral part of the Move PGH pilot project, the city’s plan to bundle transit options to help residents get around without owning a car, whether by bus, bike, scooter, zip car or more.
Statistics reported by Move PGH, a year into its two-year pilot, are encouraging: People have taken more than 576,000 scooter trips for a total of hundreds of thousands of miles. They have biked tens of thousands of miles and ridden Scoobi mopeds for more than 14,000 miles. Experience has dispelled Initial fears about safety, despite anecdotal evidence of reckless scooter driving.
The city should continue to support, as well as provide incentives for expanding, user-friendly micromobility. Demand for these options will increase with supply. People will use transportation alternatives if they have them, as cities nationwide have also demonstrated.
So-called micromobility options accrue many personal and social benefits. Getting around without a car saves money. Biking provides good exercise. Riding scooters decreases traffic. Electric options have reduced the city’s carbon footprint by the equivalent of 257,000 vehicle miles.
Not all mobility options in Pittsburgh have been profitable, or sustainable without adequate subsidies. In June, Scoobi, the company owning the blue mopeds that started in 2018, notified the city it would go bankrupt, partly due to drastically decreased use during cold weather.
Conversely, POGOH, the bike sharing company, announced fleet renovations this year, due to the program’s success.
Move PGH also has its critics. Pittsburghers for Public Transit has noted $5 for a scooter ride is too much for many low-income residents, and that these newer, trendier transportation options do nothing for people with disabilities. The advocacy group argues the city should focus on transit options accessible to all.
They aren’t wrong, but there’s no evidence that more affordable public transportation, such as the city’s bus routes, are losing riders because of these newer options.
E- scooter sharing services amount to roughly 7.5% of the U.S. transportation market, the data site, statista.com, reports. The share is expected to grow to 10% by 2026.
Scooters, bikes and mopeds are no longer quirky sideshows. They have entered the mobility mainstream. Given their broad social benefits, the city should encourage their use in whatever way it can, while maintaining support for more traditional public transit such as buses.