Chicago’s second escooter trial shows riders are losing interest
Equity
One of the primary questions the city wanted to explore in the 2020 pilot was whether e-scooters could effectively improve mobility for residents who face economic, health, mobility, or accessibility barriers, with officials saying these issues took on added significance due to the transportation challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis.
The city designated an equity priority area that included large portions of the South and West Sides, with each e-scooter vendor required to deploy 50% of their devices every day in priority areas.
Preliminary data revealed that on average, 52% of all devices were deployed to the areas, and each vendor’s average daily deployment actually exceeded the requirement.
This contrasted sharply with vendor compliance in 2019, when firms deployed just 36% of e-scooters to priority zones.
In total, almost 160,000 rides – about a quarter of trips – took place in the equity priority area on the South and West Sides.
Parking compliance
Another objective for the 2020 pilot was the reduction of improper parking of e-scooters on sidewalks, with special regard for keeping a safe path of travel for residents with disabilities.
To address the challenge, Chicago required that all e-scooters be equipped with a lock and secured to a fixed object to end a ride.
Initial stakeholder feedback and data indicated that e-scooter parking compliance improved significantly in the 2020 pilot, with a 79 percent decrease in complaints-per-day-per-device when compared to 2019.
“We are encouraged by the preliminary data we have seen from the second pilot,” Rosa Escareño, Business Affairs, and Consumer Protection Commissioner said.
“This pilot was designed thoughtfully and carefully to test this new mobility option, and we are now going to work with stakeholders to thoroughly examine the data to evaluate whether e-scooters make sense for Chicago in the long term.”
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Story byCities Today
Cities Today is the leading news platform on urban mobility and innovation, reaching an international audience of city leaders.Cities Today is the leading news platform on urban mobility and innovation, reaching an international audience of city leaders.
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