The 2021 State of the Industry Report Will be Here Soon!
Celebrating Three Years of the Shared Micromobility State of the Industry Report
In 2019, NABSA released the first annual Shared Micromobility State of the Industry Report for North America, marking the first time that the shared micromobility industry had in-depth, year-over-year metrics demonstrating its trends, growth, and success in North America. Then, in 2020, we released the second report highlighting the industry’s response and resilience during COVID-19, in addition to country-by-country breakdowns of ridership and vehicle types, mode shift, rider representation, economic impacts, and other metrics. Finally, the 2021 report tells the second half of the COVID-19 story and further demonstrates the resilience, importance, demand for, and impact of shared micromobility.
The release of the third report will show the year-over-year impact that shared micromobility has had on riders and communities. It’s helped millions of people connect to transit, access essential services, get where they need to go, and have fun while offsetting CO₂ emissions, lowering congestion, and encouraging mode shift and active transportation – an essential strategy for mitigating the worst impacts of climate change. Shared micromobility also helps make transportation more equitable and accessible by filling transit gaps, serving as a first/last-mile solution, and complementing and strengthening public transportation networks.
We’re excited to release the 2021 report soon and continue demonstrating shared micromobility’s success, growth, and impact! Until then, let’s review some of the trends from the first two reports.
COVID-19 Pandemic
There’s no question that shared micromobility usage was affected during the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the industry quickly rebounded and was within 20% of 2019 levels by the end of 2020. Additionally, many systems closed in response to the pandemic, but 75% of suspended systems reopened by the end of the year. This positive trajectory continued into 2021, and we’re excited to share those results soon.
Equity
While not reported in 2019, the ability to reflect on the industry’s progress toward workforce diversity goals was an important addition to the 2020 report. The 2021 report will provide us with our first look at shared micromobility workforce diversity trends while continuing to highlight the equity metrics, like rider representation and equity programs, that first appeared in the 2019 report.
E-Bikes
Despite the pandemic, the growth of e-bikes from 2019 to 2020 was so significant that it prompted us to add a section highlighting e-bike trends to the 2020 report. The number of systems deploying e-bikes increased from 28% in 2019 to 44% in 2020, the number of trips taken on e-bikes in 2020 was three million more than in 2019, and they were ridden nearly twice as often as pedal bikes. The new report will cover more on how the e-bike boom continued into 2021.
Transit Integration
The reports have found that 56% of cities with shared micromobility required the use of GBFS in 2019, and 69% required it in 2020. The 2020 report also stated that 50% of riders use shared micromobility to connect to transit. Innovative collaborations between shared micromobility operators, transit agencies, and cities have continued. We took a deeper dive into the transit integration theme in our 2021 report and are excited to share the results!
What to expect from the 2021 State of the Industry Report
The third annual Shared Micromobility State of the Industry Report for North America will be here next week! New additions to the report include a shared micromobility policy section showing shared micromobility’s presence in regulations and policies, and an expanded transit integration section. The report continues to include country-by-country breakdowns of ridership and vehicle types, mode shift, rider representation, economic impacts, and much more.
By capturing the benefits associated with shared micromobility, the State of the Industry Report is a powerful tool for advocating for shared micromobility and its benefits to communities. We can’t wait to share it with you!
Learn more about the State of the Industry Report at nabsa.net/industry.