Minnesota Focuses on Shared Micromobility for Rural Communities

Minnesota approaches shared micromobility as one piece of a broader shared mobility strategy, and it does so with a focus on rural and small urban communities. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) houses this work in its Office of Transit and Active Transportation, where shared micromobility sits alongside transit, microtransit, and other shared services. MnDOT is a member and funder of the Minnesota Shared Mobility Collaborative, which includes several other partners – public agencies, private companies, city officials, and nonprofit organizations – increasing shared mobility options across the state. The group was formed to implement the Twin Cities Shared Mobility Action Plan, and expanded statewide in 2023. The group conducts research, hosts quarterly webinars and in-person events, and meets monthly to share updates.

Minnesota was an early leader in shared micromobility. Minneapolis’s Nice Ride launched in 2010 as one of the first bikeshare systems in the United States, a docked network that ran for 13 seasons. It ended in 2023 after it lost its main sponsor. The City purchased the Nice Ride brand and along with advocates, are looking for ways to revive a docked system.

In the meantime, the Twin Cities have shifted to a dockless model. Minneapolis and St. Paul licensed private operators, Lime and Spin, in 2025, to provide shared e-bikes and e-scooters. Minneapolis pairs this with equity rules that spread vehicles into north and south neighborhoods and cap downtown, and with about 60 mobility hubs. Since 2018, operators report well over a million riders and more than five million rides across the two cities. Outside the metro area, shared micromobility is smaller and city-led, with dockless systems operating in Golden Valley, Hopkins, New Ulm, Rochester, and St. Louis Park.

At the center of MnDOT’s efforts is the Greater Minnesota Shared Mobility Program. In August 2023, MnDOT launched Moving Greater Minnesota Forward, which it describes as the first mobility incubator in the United States built around the needs of rural and small urban communities, defined as those under 200,000 people. The program moves ideas through phases, starting with early idea development and advancing promising projects to real-world pilots that can receive up to two years of funding. The goal is to help local organizations test and scale services that fit their communities rather than apply a one-size-fits-all model. The program has been used to fund an e-bikeshare pilot program in Duluth and Red Lake Nation and to expand shared e-bikes to historically underserved communities in Duluth.

MnDOT also plays a convening role. Staff host monthly shared micromobility calls with municipalities to share updates, compare approaches, and identify state and federal funding. These calls function as a peer network, giving cities a place to learn from others who have already worked through procurement, permitting, and operations. The state has also built a library of practical resources, including a shared micromobility policy toolkit, a public-private partnership guide developed with the University of Minnesota, and sample shared micromobility ordinances and license agreements from cities like New Ulm that other communities can adapt. MnDOT hosted the first Minnesota Shared Mobility Summit on June 3 at the University of Minnesota, which included shared micromobility demos and a presentation on a shared cargo bike program, and, over the next year, will be developing the first statewide shared mobility plan in the nation.

Minnesota has paired a unique funding stream with technical resources for municipalities, and has focused on reducing cost and complexity for smaller communities.