1 Imp 1

CITY OF PORTLAND BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION
2019 E-Scooter
Findings Report
September 2020
The City of Portland ensures meaningful access to city programs, services, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
and activities to comply with Civil Rights Title VI and ADA Title II laws and
reasonably provides: translation, interpretation, modifications, accommo- City of Portland Bureau of
dations, alternative formats, auxiliary aids and services. To request these Transportation (PBOT)
services, contact 503-823-5185, City TTY 503-823-6868, Relay Service: 711. COMMISSIONER Chloe Eudaly
DIRECTOR Chris Warner
PRIMARY AUTHORS
Catherine Ciarlo
Active Transportation &
Safety Division Manager
Love Jonson
Transportation Demand
Management Specialist
Jacob Sherman
E-Scooter Program Manager
CONTRIBUTORS
Policy and Planning
Eric Hesse
Kristin Hull
Peter Hurley
Mel Krnjaic
Art Pearce
Parking and Regulatory

Dave Benson
Matt Erickson
Tim Moore
Mark Williams
Business Services
Aubrey Lindstrom
Mike McDonald
Alta Planning + Design

Katie Mangle
Jean Crowther, AICP
Mike Sellinger
Cat Cheng
Elizabeth Bisegna
Steve Hernandez
1
00
Preface
01
Background & Context
02
Congestion & Climate
Can e-scooters move people
efficiently in a climate-friendly way?
13
03
Equity
Can e-scooters meet the needs
of historically underserved
Portlanders?
31
04
Safety
Can e-scooters move people safely
and help us realize Vision Zero?
37
05
What’s Next
How will e-scooters fit into
Portland’s transportation
landscape?
45 2
00 A mural in downtown Portland pays tribute to George Floyd, who was killed by
police in Minneapolis, spurring a national and global anti-racism movement,
including protests in Portland.
Preface
June 18, 2020
This report illustrates findings from North American markets, including Across the globe, e-scooter ridership
Portland’s 2019-2020 Shared Electric Portland, in December 2019. Lime plummeted and many e-scooter
Scooter Pilot. This report was written and Razor tested winter service for companies responded to COVID-19
in early 2020 and focused on data the first time in Portland, reducing by suspending operations in most
from the 2019 calendar year. However, their service areas significantly to markets. In Portland, Lime and Bird
in early spring 2020, a global focus on the downtown core, which suspended service altogether, while
pandemic and resulting disruption left much of the city without e-scoot- Razor significantly reduced its fleet,
in economic systems have signifi- er service. In February 2020, Shared and Spin slightly reduced its presence.
cantly impacted how much—and Tech closed down operations in
As the pandemic began to unfold,
how—we travel. At the same time, Portland—its only market—due to
PBOT recognized that e-scooters—in
recent national unrest over the extreme difficulties securing funding
addition to other forms of micro-
deaths of Black Americans killed to support and grow its venture.
mobility, like Portland’s bike-share
by police has demonstrated that
Meanwhile, a novel virus would soon system, BIKETOWN—could provide
Black and brown Americans are
become a global pandemic, reshaping a lifeline for essential trips and safe,
unsafe in the public right-of-way.
modern life as we know it. In response physically distant outdoor recreation.
What follows is a synopsis of recent to COVID-19, travel in Portland ground PBOT determined that micromobility
events from both the COVID-19 to a halt in March 2020. On March 12, was an essential service and part-
pandemic and the movement Governor Kate Brown closed schools nered with Spin to reduce e-scooter
for racial justice that have had statewide and Mayor Ted Wheeler fares by 50% during COVID-19 from
a material impact on ridership declared a state of emergency in April 7 to May 31, 2020. PBOT also
and the operations of Portland’s Portland, and e-scooter ridership reduced BIKETOWN fares by 50%
e-scooter pilot program. dropped 67% the following week. On from April 7 through April 30, 2020.
March 23, Governor Brown issued
In late 2019, e-scooter companies During this time, e-scooter rider-
a stay-at-home order, and e-scoot-
were already having difficulty reaching ship slowly began to increase. After
er ridership dropped 90% from its
profitability, and PBOT saw that hitting a low point in March at about
pre-pandemic 2020 level as people
market instability and consolida- 1,200 rides per week, e-scooter
traveled only to get to essential jobs,
tion would shape the micromobility ridership has now almost returned
grocery stores, medical appointments,
industry in 2020. For example, Bolt to its pre-pandemic level for 2020.
or other necessary destinations.
had already withdrawn from all its
3
Comparison of 2019 e-scooter activity to 2020
45,000
March 12 March 23
40,000 Governor Kate Governor Kate Brown
issues a statewide
Brown closes 2019 2019
35,000 schools statewide stay-at-home order
and Mayor Ted 2020
30,000 Wheeler declares a April 7 2020 Pre-
state of emergency pandemic
Spin and PBOT offer e-scooter
TRIPS
ridership
25,000 in Portland rides at a 50% discount trend
20,000
15,000
10,000 May 30 May 31

2020 PBOT places emergency Spin and
5,000 restrictions on scooter use PBOT end ride
due to nighttime protests discount
0
Week of
1/3
1/10
1/17
1/24
1/31
2/7
2/14
2/21
2/28
3/6
3/13
3/20
3/27
4/3
4/10
4/17
4/24
5/1
5/8
5/15
5/22
5/29
6/5
6/12
6/19
6/26
7/3
7/10
7/17
7/24
7/31
8/7
8/14
8/21
12/18
12/25
8/28
9/4
9/11
9/18
9/25
10/2
10/9
10/16
10/23
10/30
11/6
11/13
11/20
11/27
12/4
12/11
Had the COVID-19 pandemic not tuted service level reductions. In the Black Portlanders made up only
occurred, PBOT believes that the weeks following, PBOT tracked the about 3% of respondents of a
true low point for ridership would largely peaceful demonstrations for summer 2019 e-scooter user survey,
have occurred in January 2020, and racial justice and gradually eliminat- though Portland’s population is
PBOT estimates that e-scooter trip ed restrictions on e-scooter opera- about 6% Black, suggesting that
volumes in spring 2020 would have tions to return to normal service. Black Portlanders are less likely to
approached a similar number of rides use e-scooters. Even if barriers to
Though these peaceful demon-
to what Portland saw in spring 2019. e-scooter use like affordability and
strations have meant temporary
access can be overcome, others still
More recently, national unrest reductions to mobility options in
remain. For example, picking up a
over the deaths of George Floyd, downtown Portland, more impor-
shared e-scooter in the right-of-way
Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, tantly, they have shown how
can lead to assumptions of property
and more—the most recent Black fundamentally different the
theft, and interactions with police
Americans to be killed by police experience of Black and brown
can escalate to threaten their lives.
and vigilantes in a pattern that Americans in the right-of-way is
has continued for centuries—has compared to that of white Americans. Mobility will look different for the
resulted in protests in Portland that coming months until the threat of
Black Portlanders have told PBOT
have impacted e-scooter use. COVID-19 dissipates. At the same
in Walking While Black focus groups
time, many Black and brown Port-
On May 30, 2020 PBOT received and in 2018 e-scooter focus groups
landers will see using a personal
reports that e-scooters had been used that they are not safe walking, riding
vehicle as their safest option until the
by a small number of actors to vandal- a bike, or waiting for the bus on the
threat of racism in the right-of-way is
ize property downtown during night- streets in their own neighborhoods.
removed, which means white su-
time protests. Facing uncertainty from The threat of harassment and
premacy is a key barrier to achieving
additional protests, PBOT instituted violence by police and the public
Portland’s ambitious climate action
emergency requirements to restrict means that active transportation
and congestion reduction goals.
e-scooter use in downtown Portland, can be or feel like an unsafe option
E-scooter operations and manage-
while continuing to allow it elsewhere for them. For example, people of
ment must continue to evolve in
around the city. Other mobility service color—particularly trans women of
the face of these shifting realities.
providers, including TriMet, Portland color—face the prospect of verbal and
Streetcar, and BIKETOWN, also insti- physical abuse from other Portland-
ers simply for being in public space. 4
01
Background
& Context
5
Shared electric scooters first arrived The City of Portland sees both By late 2018, over
100 CITIES
in the U.S. in 2017. By late 2018, over promise and challenge in this new
100 cities across the country saw mode. E-scooters have potential to
over 85,000 e-scooters in use. In shift trips from single-driver and
2018 alone, riders took 38.5 million single-passenger motor vehicles to
85,000
trips on e-scooters, in addition a smaller, more efficient, less-pol-
to 36.5 million trips taken in sta- luting mode. Realizing this potential
tion-based bike share systems. would advance city goals to reduce
E-SCOOTERS
1
in use
congestion, reduce climate emis-
As Portland’s population grows, traffic
sions, and advance equity. However,
38.5
is increasing, and transportation-re-
challenges remain, and the city must
lated carbon emissions continue to
continue to ensure e-scooters do
rise. These trends disproportionately
not exacerbate existing inequities
impact lower-income Portlanders
or negatively impact the climate. MILLION TRIPS
who must travel longer distances due
to gentrification and displacement.
6
BACKGROUND & CONTE X T
E-scooter pilots:
2018 and 2019-20
In 2018, the Portland Bureau of PBOT launched a second pilot e-scooters to operate on Portland’s
Transportation (PBOT) conducted a in April 2019 to gather additional streets, though some companies did
four-month e-scooter pilot from July data about e-scooter operations not deploy the maximum number
to November. The pilot was intended and test management strategies to of e-scooters they were permitted.
to assess whether e-scooters can address issues identified during the
In December 2019, PBOT notified
help meet the following city goals: first pilot, as well as to gain a better
companies and the public that the
understanding of e-scooter use and
Reduce traffic congestion pilot period would be extended
operations over the winter months.
by shifting trips away from through December 2020. This
private motor vehicle use The 2019-20 pilot began with a extension enables further testing
competitive application process. of management solutions, gives
Prevent fatalities and
Five companies—Bolt, Lime, Razor, more information about seasonal
serious injuries on
Shared, and Spin—were awarded operations, and allows e-scooter
Portland streets
e-scooter fleet permits in April 2019. industry trends and market changes
Expand access to oppor- Bird received a permit in August to play out before making deci-
tunities for underserved 2019 as part of a second round of sions about a potential permanent
Portlanders permit approvals. The pilot structure e-scooter program in Portland.
enabled individual companies to earn
Reduce air pollution, This report provides an overview
fleet increases through an “incentive”
including carbon emissions of PBOT’s early findings. Unless
process that evaluates company
otherwise noted, the timespan
At the end of the pilot, PBOT evalu- performance on key metrics, includ-
for the data in this report is April
ated pilot results against those goals ing utilization, citywide deployment,
26 through December 31, 2019.
and documented the findings in a and safety workshops. At the end
report that received national press of 2019, PBOT had permitted 2,865
coverage and was emulated by other
cities.2 The report concluded that
e-scooters may reduce vehicle miles
traveled, provide a safe way to get
around Portland, and offer potential
for more equitable transportation
service. However, sidewalk riding
and improper parking remain key
concerns, historically underserved
Portlanders face barriers to access,
and it is not clear whether e-scooters
reduce harmful emissions when the
full product life cycle and system
operations—including charging
and rebalancing—are considered.
7
Evaluating e-scooter potential
to advance city goals
Anyone who travels in Portland knows and Transportation System Plan
that traffic is increasing. While our set out strategies to address these
population is expanding, our roadway issues by reducing single-occupan-
space is not. In 2010, Portland’s cy vehicle trips. However, even if
population was 580,000; by 2035, it is Portland successfully implements
expected to be about 860,000. With all the strategies in these plans,
growth in driving comes increasing models show a “trip reduction gap”
traffic congestion and the need to of 63,000 trips would still remain.
shift trips to more efficient modes,
If new mobility services like
such as walking, bicycling, and transit.
e-scooters can provide an attrac-
Transportation emissions comprise tive option that reduces car use
42% of Portland’s overall green- and car ownership, they may help
house gas emissions, and carbon close this “trip gap” and meet city
emissions are increasing.3 Port- congestion and climate goals.
land’s 2035 Comprehensive Plan
PROJECTED TRIPS
Even if Portland
implements the
Transportation System
Plan in its entirety, a
“trip reduction gap”
between the goals and
reality will still remain. GOAL:
ADOPTED POLICY
“TRIP REDUCTION GAP”
Closing the “trip reduction gap”

If managed effectively, new mobility services offer tools and innovations that
could help close this “trip gap” between our goals and our current trajectory. By
creating attractive alternatives to car ownership and shifting trips, these new
services could enable people to meet their daily needs in ways other than driving
or riding alone.
8
BACKGROUND & CONTE X T
Managing mobility
in the digital age
As managers of the public realm— challenges during the city’s analysis. establish best practices for the re-
including the public rights-of-way Looking to the future, PBOT sponsible use of mobility data and
in which e-scooters operate—cities must balance the data we ask helped create the Open Mobility
need information from private-sec- for with our capacity to manage Foundation, a global organization
tor companies to determine if and analyze the data, as well as that brings together the public and
these new mobility services comply consider the opportunity cost of private sectors, experts, advocates,
with local regulations, to evaluate increasing our capacity versus and other stakeholders to develop
their impacts, and to implement hiring third parties to manage open-source mobility tools and
policies that advance city goals. our data. In addition, while mobility address critical issues like privacy.5
data offers cities new opportunities
This report demonstrates how • Third, PBOT’s e-scooter pilot is one
to more efficiently serve the public
e-scooter use has provided Portland of the first programs to comply with
interest, larger, societal conversations
valuable data about travel patterns the City of Portland Privacy and
about data privacy raise questions
and our transportation system—a Information Protection Principles.6
about how private-sector compa-
digital picture of our right-of-way.
nies and cities should use data.4 PBOT remains committed to the
In its second e-scooter pilot, PBOT
responsible use and protection
adopted the Mobility Data Specifica- To ensure the responsible use of
of mobility data. Moving forward,
tion (MDS), which is comprised of a mobility data, PBOT undertook
PBOT will develop new bureau-wide
set of Application Programming Inter- several key actions in 2019.
policies to secure data and protect
faces (APIs) that create standardized
• First, PBOT implemented data privacy. PBOT will continue to work
two-way communications for cities
aggregation processes to protect closely with technology experts at
and private companies to share in-
the privacy of individual e-scoot- Ride Report and with cities around
formation about their operations and
er users and hired local tech- the globe to effectively manage
allow cities to collect data that can
nology company Ride Report to our streets—and the services that
inform real-time traffic management
help manage e-scooter data. use them—in the digital age.
and public policy decisions. Without
MDS data from companies, much • Second, PBOT engaged in efforts For more information, see Appendix
of the analysis in this report led by the National Association A: Managing Mobility Data.
would not exist, nor would the of City Transportation Officials to
city be able to enforce regulations
that require operators to provide
e-scooters in underserved areas
of Portland, and to slow down the
speed of or prevent the operation
of e-scooters in certain areas.
MDS continues to evolve, and cities

and companies are still learning to
adhere to the standard, resulting in
data quality issues that can create
9
“Once prices increased
I ceased to use the
scooters. I have a
Transportation Wallet
with PBOT and use it to
access BIKETOWN all
the time as well as the
streetcar.
—2019 e-scooter user survey
respondent
”
Stakeholder engagement to
inform e-scooter management
Throughout the 2018 and 2019 We are working with the Multnomah Finally, we regularly coordinate with
pilot programs, PBOT engaged a County Health Department to study City Council offices to ensure respon-
range of stakeholders to inform e-scooter related injuries; with siveness to constituent concerns,
our management and assess the per- Portland State University to research and we regularly communicate
formance of e-scooters in Portland. the impact of e-scooter operations; with companies to ensure com-
and with the Oregon Department pliance with regulations and work
We heard from the public via email,
of Environmental Quality to analyze collaboratively to meet city goals.
phone, and an online feedback form;
company life cycle analyses.
from riders via a user survey in The results of these collab-
2019 with over 2,000 respondents; We worked with affordable housing orative efforts are detailed
and from underserved Portlanders providers to promote e-scooter rider- throughout this report.
via three focus groups in 2018. ship among low-income Portlanders
through the Transportation Wallet
We worked with community-based
for Residents of Affordable Housing
organizations including Disability
program and incorporated e-scooter
Rights Oregon to produce a video
incentives into the Transportation
promoting safe e-scooter riding
Wallet program for parking districts.
and Forth Mobility to coordinate
safety workshops with companies.
10
Testing strategies to address
community concerns
As detailed in PBOT’s forthcoming efficient options like public transit and
New Mobility Strategy, new trans- bicycling, or reinforcing existing ineq-
portation services, like e-scooters, uities through limited service areas,
have been launching in cities around cultural barriers, and high pricing. As
the world. Some services offer the such, PBOT has a fundamental role
potential to help us meet city goals in shaping how these new services,
around improving safety, decreas- like e-scooters, advance—rather
ing congestion, reducing harmful than undermine—Portland’s trans-
carbon emissions, and promoting portation system goals. In addition,
equity, but we cannot leave inno- Portlanders know best how e-scoot-
vation to chance. If not managed ers can work well in Portland. With
properly, new services like e-scoot- this philosophy in mind, PBOT took
ers could undermine our goals feedback from the public during
by jeopardizing the safety of road the 2018 pilot and made several
users, competing with other more changes for the second pilot.
11
2018 e-scooter PBOT response
pilot concern
EDUCATION
During the first pilot, PBOT learned that most riders are introduced to Portland’s e-scooter
rules through the e-scooter apps. For the 2019 pilot, PBOT required companies to provide
Portland-specific laws in their app at the time of registration and at rental. The city also
SIDEWALK RIDING
installed signage and pavement markings in key locations to help educate riders.
POSES A DANGER
to pedestrians and CITATIONS
people with disabilities PBOT staff issues fines for illegal riding ($50) and parking ($15) to companies, and companies
pass them on to users when possible. During this pilot, PBOT issued 921 penalties and
60 warnings.
REPORTING ISSUES
PBOT implemented changes in the reporting process because companies are best suited to
respond and are required to quickly move improperly parked e-scooters. Members of the
public can contact e-scooter companies directly. Contact information is on the e-scooter itself
IMPROPER PARKING
and at www.portland.gov/transportation/escooterpdx/e-scooter-reporting-and-feedback.
B LOCKS ACCESS
for pedestrians and GEOFENCING TECHNOLOGY
people with disabilities PBOT requires companies to geofence “no riding” and “no parking” zones defined
by the city, including Waterfront Park and other parks. Users receive warnings
when they ride or attempt to end their trips in these zones. PBOT also works with
companies to test technology that slows or stops e-scooters in prohibited areas.
SEATED E-SCOOTERS
PBOT prioritized companies in the permitting process that offer seated e-scooters
and has heard positive feedback from folks with certain types of mobility-related
USERS RIDE IN PARKS disabilities—as well as other people—that the seated e-scooters are more stable and
and other comfortable than other models, making it easier and more accessible to get around.
prohibited areas
INCENTIVES
PBOT created an incentive system to reward companies that made efforts to meet
city goals. By the end of 2019, PBOT had awarded an additional 890 e-scooters to
companies, increasing the permitted scooter fleet from 1,975, to 2,865 (though some
companies did not deploy the maximum number of e-scooters they were permitted).
DEDICATED E-SCOOTER PARKING

PBOT installed 24 dedicated e-scooter parking corrals in high-use areas
across the city. In the future, corrals could be shown in companies’ apps, and
NOT EVERYONE IS
riders could be required or ncentivized to return e-scooters to corrals, like
PHYSICALLY ABLE
BIKETOWN users are. See Appendix B: E-Scooter Parking Solutions.
to ride an e-scooter
LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS
Transportation Commissioner Chloe Eudaly spearheaded the effort to improve PBOT’s
analysis of the environmental impact of e-scooters. She directed the bureau to issue a
first-in-the-industry requirement that e-scooter companies operating in our city conduct
a life cycle analysis according to international standards. These analyses will help PBOT
understand the full environmental impact of e-scooters across all stages of their lifetime,
from raw material extraction through manufacturing, use, repair, and disposal. Companies
have noted that these reports are already helping the industry improve its practices.
CLIMATE IMPACTS OPERATIONAL VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED

OF E-SCOOTER PBOT also requires e-scooter companies to provide data on how many miles are driven
OPERATIONS by the companies and their contractors when deploying, rebalancing, and charging
are unknown e-scooters. This information will be used to evaluate which e-scooter business models
offer the greatest opportunity to reduce climate, congestion, and safety impacts. 12
02
Congestion
& Climate
Can e-scooters move
people efficiently in a
climate-friendly way?
To determine whether e-scooters
are replacing car trips—helping
meet Portland’s goals to reduce
congestion and climate emissions—
it is important to understand why,
when, where, and how people
are using e-scooters. The climate
impact of e-scooter operations
depends on how many trips are
shifted to and from other modes
and the quantity of climate emis-
sions from e-scooter life cycles.
13
People ride Trip type
e-scooters 28%
for many 24%
types of trips
17%
13%
According to a survey PBOT
10%
conducted among riders in
summer 2019 with over 2,000
8%
respondents, Portlanders are using
e-scooters for all types of trips,
from commuting to recreation. Commute Fun or Social or Restaurant Shopping Get to
(Work, Recreation Entertain- or from
School, or ment Transit
Work
Meeting)
14
CONGESTION & CLIMATE
E-scooters are popular in afternoons,

evenings, and good weather
Consistent with ridership in other
cities, as well as BIKETOWN, people
tend to mostly ride e-scooters most
in the warm, dry summer months.
Though Portland had a record
dry fall, ridership still dropped
off after peaking in August.
Compared to the first pilot in 2018,

summer saw fewer e-scooter rides
in 2019—potentially due to a number
of factors including increased
prices, fewer available e-scoot-
ers, and a lower level of novelty.
Total trips by month (2018 and 2019)
200,000
2018
NUMBER OF TRIPS
150,000
100,000
2019
50,000
0
APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
15
“They’re fun to ride but I’m usually
When do people riding with friends socially and it
ride e-scooters? costs way more in total for each
People ride e-scooters most often of us to use a scooter than if we
shared a Lyft/Uber. Since this is
on weekend afternoons and
evenings, as well as around
the weekday evening commute the only time I really use scooters,
time. This reflects greater avail-
I can’t justify it unless one of my
ability of e-scooters downtown in
the city’s primary center of em- friends insists.
ployment, making after-work trips
home or to other destinations
easier than morning commute
—2019 e-scooter user survey respondent ”
trips, as e-scooters may not always
be available where people live.
E-scooter use by time of day in 2019 (total number of trips)

GRAND
HOUR SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT TOTAL
12AM 4,447 2472 2235 2149 2151 2699 4,096 20,249

1AM 3,662 1674 1471 1508 1625 1971 3,156 15,067
2AM 2,982 1337 1013 1112 1237 1544 2,582 11,807
3AM 1,536 818 686 716 726 878 1,561 6,921
4AM 1,133 754 649 683 641 735 1,152 5,747
5AM 932 856 901 956 975 980 986 6,586
6AM 1,125 1,486 1,636 1,690 1,588 1,563 1,159 10,247
7AM 1,356 2,730 2,965 3,205 3,146 2,963 1,579 17,944
8AM 2,105 4,028 4,167 4,433 4,295 4,512 2,660 26,200
9AM 3,759 3,755 3,786 3,719 4,079 4,286 4,172 27,556
10AM 5,705 4,209 3,951 3,872 3,933 4,889 6,571 33,130
11AM 7,885 6,146 5,534 5,688 5,790 7,339 8,827 47,209
12PM 9,660 7,579 6,874 6,876 7,374 8,890 11,431 58,684
1PM 11,392 7,835 7,164 7,173 7,625 9,310 13,311 63,810
2PM 12,892 8,554 7,406 7,496 8,347 10,284 14,545 69,524
3PM 13,192 9,929 8,438 8,665 9,718 11,750 15,246 76,938
4PM 12,423 10,647 9,964 10,344 11,208 13,408 14,374 82,368
5PM 11,636 11,475 11,139 11,540 12,461 14,042 13,423 85,716
6PM 10,338 10,000 9,759 10,171 10,986 13,386 13,167 77,807
7PM 9,404 8,905 8,619 8,784 9,787 11,896 12,297 69,692
8PM 8,168 8,207 7,845 7,570 9,112 11,430 10,564 62,896
9PM 6,985 6,470 6,405 7,111 7,988 10,382 10,309 55,650
10PM 5,363 4,693 4,984 5,303 6,057 8,586 8,437 43,423
11PM 4,007 3,573 3,543 3,608 4,373 6,757 6,579 32,440
152,087 128,132 121,134 124,372 135,222 164,480 182,184 1,007,611
16
People take e-scooters for Trip distance and duration are

often longer when they begin
short, quick trips farther away from the Central
City, where many destinations are
located close together. East Portland
saw the longest average trip distance,
likely due in part to its less dense
land use pattern—though the
average trip length there decreased
from 2018’s 1.6-mile average.
1.13
INDUSTRIAL average
& RIVER MILES
PER TRIP
0.99
CENTRAL CITY
INNER EASTERN
1.17 1.34
NEIGHBORHOODS NEIGHBORHOODS
average
WESTERN
MILES PER TRIP
1.12
NEIGHBORHOODS average average
MILES PER TRIP MILES PER TRIP
average
MILES PER TRIP
Average trip distance

by pattern area
17
and duration
People tend to use e-scooters
14 11
for short trips, with an average
trip distance of 1.06 miles and
average duration of 14 minutes.
MINUTES MINUTES
During the winter (November and
December 2019), trip distances and
duration were slightly shorter.
TripAverage
Duration: TripAverage
Duration:
Trip Duration:
Overall TripWinter
Duration:
PBOT’s 2019 New Mobility Snapshot
Overall Winter
has more information about
1.06 0.96
average trip distances and dura-
tions for bike-share and transpor-
tation network company trips.
MILES MILES
Average Average
Trip Distance: Trip Distance:
Overall Winter

and price for standing vs.
1.12 MILES
seated e-scooters
This year, Portland permitted
two companies that offer seated
e-scooter models. Trips on seated Standing
E-Scooters
0.68 MILES
e-scooters were notably shorter
than on standing e-scooters, which
could result from a number of
factors, including higher prices.
While trip lengths may be shorter,

Seated
PBOT sees value in having different
E-Scooters
types of scooter models because
0.34 0.29
of the access and safety benefits
provided by seated scooters. $ $
PER MINUTE PER MINUTE
18
Riders travel in the Central City Consistent with 2018, a majority
and other parts of Portland of trips start in the Central City,

where many destinations are close
together. A requirement that com-
panies deploy 15% of their fleets
in East Portland each day has also
led to significant ridership there, as
visible on the map on pages 20-21,
compared to what might have
occurred without the requirement.
1%
INDUSTRIAL
& RIVER
68 of
%
24 %
6 %
1%
INNER EASTERN
E-SCOOTER TRIPS
NEIGHBORHOODS NEIGHBORHOODS
START IN
CENTRAL CITY
WESTERN
NEIGHBORHOODS
Trip starts
by pattern area
19
Service area
boundaries
Aside from deployment requirements
in East Portland, PBOT does not
regulate companies’ service areas.
Companies create their own service
area boundaries and can change
“Living in North Portland, it
them at any time without approval
from PBOT. This leads to confusion
seems like there are plenty of
among riders when different compa- scooters downtown, but barely
nies’ e-scooters stop functioning at any in my neighborhood. I think
different geographical borders. For
example, two companies significantly
of scooters as an alternative
reduced their service areas during when I don't want to wait for
winter, which made traveling outside the bus/MAX or need to get to a
different bus/MAX stop.
downtown via e-scooter difficult and
created an obstacle to relying on
e-scooters as a year-round mode of
transportation. In the future, PBOT
may regulate service areas to
ensure companies better serve
the entire city of Portland.
The relationship between e-scooters and transit

E-scooters have been billed as a ment decisions, such as where to
solution to the “last-mile problem” require e-scooter deployment or
and offer opportunities to connect place dedicated e-scooter parking or
more people to transit. However, charging stations, may increase the
only 8% of Portland riders report likelihood that e-scooters comple-
using e-scooters to get to transit. ment transit, not detract from it.
Additionally, 21% of Portland-
ers reported using transit less
due to e-scooters, while only 6%
8
reported using transit more. A
%
small percentage of e-scooter OF PORTLAND
activity occurred along transit RIDERS REPORT
USING E-SCOOTERS
lines—0.5% along frequent bus TO GET TO OR
lines, 1% on non-frequent bus lines, FROM TRANSIT
and 1.9% on MAX lines. Manage-
20
I
Where do
riders travel?
F
This map shows where e-scooter
users rode in 2019. Lighter dots A
show street segments that saw
B
more rides, and darker dots show
segments with fewer rides. The D
Central City saw the most rides, with
some commercial corridors in inner C
Portland as well as streets in East

Portland with bike infrastructure
E
seeing more rides. In addition, the
H
City of Milwaukie allowed e-scooters
to operate in 2019, and rides in Mil-
waukie can be seen at the bottom of
the page. The map also shows which
bridges saw the most rides, with
those leading into downtown seeing
more than those further away.
21
TOP BRIDGES # of RIDES
A Steel 28,700
B Burnside 24,600
C Hawthorne 18,000
D Morrison 14,500
Tilikum
E 13,800
Crossing
F Broadway 13,600
G Sellwood 300
H Ross Island 200
I St Johns 100
LEGEND
! More Trips
!
! Fewer Trips
Bikeways
Transit
(MAX light rail and bus)
22
Infrastructure matters to
e-scooter ridership
Anecdotal observations suggest We know from user survey results
that when people have safe places and observations that, like people
to ride, like protected bike lanes, who ride bikes, e-scooter riders
they are more likely to do so—and feel more comfortable when
less likely to ride on the sidewalk. there is safe infrastructure to
New mobility services, like e-scoot- ride separate from cars—and trip
ers, thrive with infrastructure that data from 2019 confirms that. As
not only benefits e-scooter riders, shown on the map on pages
but people biking and walking too. 20-21, a significant portion of
e-scooter riding occurred on
Portland’s bike network.
Percentage of e-scooter activity that

occurred on Portland’s bike network
TYPES OF BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE
32%Bike
11%
Protected
7%
Neighborhood
Infrastructure: Bike Lane Greenways
Total
23
10%
Bike Lane
4%
Other
Infrastructure on Naito Parkway
and Waterfront Park
Improved bicycling infrastruc-

ture along Naito Parkway led to
greater compliance with rules
prohibiting riding on Portland’s
waterfront. In 2018, the multi-use
path in Tom McCall Waterfront Park
was the most frequently ridden place
in the city, but e-scooters are not
E BURNSIDE ST
allowed under rules from Portland
SW ANKENY ST
Parks and Recreation. In 2019, the
AVE
construction of “Better Naito,” a

5TH
SW
SW
two-way bike lane running parallel ASH

ST
to the waterfront —in additionSWto
PIN
ST E
geofencing and educational signage—
led to a significant decrease in rider-
AVE
SW
4TH
ship along the prohibited waterfront

OAK
ST
SW
Naito Parkway Waterfront Park

path and a significant increase in
Source: TriMet
S
ridership along Naito WParkway.
HAR
AVE
VE YM
ILK
1ST
ST
SE OAK ST
SW
SW
WA
SHI
2018 vs. 2019 ridership
ST
on NG
TON
Better Naito and Waterfront Park SE STARK ST

SW
ALD
ER
AVE
ST
+55
2ND
SE WASHINGTON ST
SW
% MO
RRI
SON
B R ID
SE ALDER ST
K
GE
PAR
I TO
INCREASE in
NT
NA
-45
F RO
SE MORRISON ST
TER
AVE
ridership in 2019
TER
3RD
BE T
%
SW
TAY
LOR
WA
SW
S T
AVE
SW
SAL
1ST
MO
NS
T
SW
DECREASE in SE YAMHILL ST
SW
MA
IN
ridership in 2019
ST
SE TAYLOR ST
SW
ADI M
Better Naito saw about 148,600 rides in 2018 and about 231,000 rides in 2019. Waterfront
SON
ST
Park saw about 55,900 rides in 2018 and about 30,500 rides in 2019. SE SALMON ST
SE WATER AVE
SE 2ND AVE
SW
JEF
FER
SON
S T
24
SE MAIN ST
HAW
THO
SW RN
COL EB
R ID
UM GE
BIA
East Portland ridership grows

with safe infrastructure
East Portland has less bike infra-
2018 vs. 2019 ridership
structure than the rest of Portland.
on Halsey-Weidler couplet (total trips)
Formerly unincorporated land with
a less-dense, more automobile-ori- AFTER
ented land use pattern was annexed
into the city in recent decades. New
investments by the City of Portland
have increased the amount of bike
infrastructure and sidewalks in BEFORE
East Portland, but disparities still
remain due to a long history of
underinvestment in transportation.
22
This poses challenges to increasing
e-scooter ridership, even as com-
panies are required to deploy 15%
% INCREASE
in ridership
AFTER
in 2019
of their fleets in East Portland.
However, recent transportation The Halsey-Weidler couplet saw about 11,400 rides
in 2018 and about 14,000 rides in 2019.
investments by PBOT in 2018 and
2019 are helping increase e-scoot-
er ridership in East Portland.
2018 vs. 2019 ridership on 102nd Avenue
These increases occurred even
(total trips from NE Weidler St to Sandy Blvd)
though overall e-scooter rid-
ership was down from 2018.
Between the first and second pilots,

102nd Avenue and the Halsey-
Weidler couplet saw major street
redesigns that include protected
BEFORE
bike lanes, which are most effective
at inviting new bike and e-scooter
riders into the bike lane. Mobility
data shows that e-scooter use in-
125
creased dramatically on these streets
between 2018 and 2019, demon-
strating that East Portland ridership
% INCREASE
in ridership
AFTER
in 2019
grows with safe infrastructure.
This stretch of 102nd Avenue saw about 4,500 rides

in 2018 and about 10,000 rides in 2019.
25
People use e-scooters instead
of other modes of travel
One of the promises of e-scooters
is the possibility that they can be
used to replace car trips, which
PORTLANDERS
PORTLANDERS
Private Car Taxi, Lyft, Uber
add to congestion and green- Private Car Taxi, Lyft, Uber
37%37%
house gas emissions. However,
a risk is that e-scooter rides may E-scooter tripstrips
E-scooter thatthat
replace low-carbon modes like REPLACE CAR TRIPS
REPLACE CAR TRIPS
5858
walking, bicycling, or transit.
%
% E-scooter trips E-scooter trips
Based on a 2019 e-scooter user that REPLACE that REPLACE
survey, the types of trips Portlanders
LOW-CARBON
LOW-CARBON
MODES
MODES
replace with e-scooters are similar Walk
Walk
Transit
Transit
Bike No
Bike No
(walk, bike,
Trip
to the travel behavior of riders in Trip transit, no trip)
other cities. Many cities across North

America see e-scooters replacing a
VISITORS
significant number of both tripsVISITORS
that Private car Taxi, Lyft, Uber
would have been made by car and
Private car Taxi, Lyft, Uber
47 %
trips that would have been made E-scooter trips that
47% REPLACE
by low- or no-carbon modes like E-scooter trips that REPLACE CAR TRIPS
52
biking, walking, and transit. Some CAR TRIPS
% E-scooter trips
52
cities have more tourism than others,
that REPLACE
which may explain some differenc- % E-scooter trips LOW-CARBON
es in trip replacement patterns. that REPLACE
MODES
Walk Transit Bike No
Trip
LOW-CARBON
(walk, bike,
transit, no trip)
To better advance Portland’s MODES
Walk Transit Bike No
climate and congestion goals, Trip
e-scooters should replace more
car trips, while minimizing re-
placement of low-carbon trips.
SAN FRANCISCO,
CALGARY, DENVER, ARLINGTON, OAKLAND, PORTLAND, SANTA
33 %
33 %VA
35 % CA
39 %
40 %
42 %
49
MONICA, CA %
CA
CANADA CO OR
% of e-scooter trips
that REPLACE
33% 33% 35% 39% 40% 42% 49%
50% 50% 62%
CAR TRIPS
51% 58% 64% 66%
% of e-scooter trips
that REPLACE
50% 50% 51% 58% 62% 64% 66%
LOW-CARBON
MODES
ARLINGTON, SANTA SAN FRANCISCO, PORTLAND, OAKLAND, CALGARY, DENVER, CO
VA MONICA, CA CA OR CA CANADA
26
E-scooters and BIKETOWN

Portland’s bike-share system,
BIKETOWN, saw fewer trips in 2019
than in previous years. While this is
likely due in part to the introduction
of e-scooters into Portland’s trans-
portation landscape, it also reflects
the aging of the system. In the coming
years, BIKETOWN will replace its fleet
with electric-assist bikes and begin
an expansion of service throughout
Portland. The conversion of BIKETOWN
to an e-bike fleet, as well as possible
future micromobility modes in
Portland, like mopeds, may influence
e-scooter ridership in the future.
E-scooter and BIKETOWN ridership over time (2019)
180,000
E-scooters
160,000
BIKETOWN
(Total)
140,000
BIKETOWN
(pay-as-you-go)
NUMBER OF TRIPS
120,000 BIKETOWN
(Subscriber)
100,000
80,000
1,250 - 2,890
60,000 vehicles
available
40,000
Approxi-
20,000 mately
1,000
vehicles
0 available
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
27
Car miles replaced
167
Overall, e-scooter riders replaced
enough miles that would otherwise
have been driven in a car to ride METRIC TONS of
around the Earth almost 17 times CO2 EMISSIONS SAVED
(415,286 miles), save 167 metric tons
of carbon emissions, and remove
the greenhouse gas equivalent of 27
passenger vehicles from the streets EQUIVALENT OF
A CAR DRIVING
over the course of the pilot in 2019.7 AROUND THE
17
EARTH ALMOST
TIMES
over the
course of the
pilot in 2019
Miles shifted per mode
WALK
393,989 MILES
TAXI/TNC
276,857 MILES
PERSONAL
CAR 138,429 MILES
415,286
E-SCOOTER RIDERS REPLACED
TRANSIT
85,169 MILES
63,890
MILES OTHERWISE
DRIVEN BY CARS BIKE/
BIKETOWN
MILES
NEW TRIPS
TAKEN
42,593 MILES
28
E-scooters support
lower car ownership
The average car sits idle for 96% of Shared e-scooters can make In Portland, 14% of e-scooter riders
the day, and the average annual cost living in Portland without a car report that they do not own a car.
of owning that car is $9,282/year. 8
easier. E-scooters can supple- Ninety-eight people, or 7% of user
When people have greater access ment transit, walking, BIKETOWN, survey respondents, said they have
to a number of reliable transporta- and personal bikes for everyday reduced the number of cars they or
tion options, they are more likely to trips. In addition, they can provide their family owns because of e-scoot-
be able to live conveniently without “redundancy,” or a backup option, ers, and another 184 people (13%)
a personal vehicle, which reduces when a person takes a trip without considered it. While these figures
the likelihood of driving alone, a car. For example, if someone may be small, it is important to note
reduces cost of living, and frees up plans on taking a BIKETOWN that without attractive and reliable
space used to store cars for more but no bikes are present at the options that can reduce car own-
productive activities like housing, nearest station, the traveler may ership and driving, it will be hard to
offices, retail, and green space. be able to find an e-scooter. reach our emissions reduction goals.
Studying the climate

impacts of e-scooters
E-scooter trips and other shared a life cycle analysis (LCA) accord- For this reason, PBOT incentivizes
micromobility trips that replace car ing to international standards (ISO companies to right-size their fleet in a
trips offer an opportunity to reduce 14040/14044). The LCAs will way that ensures enough scooters are
vehicle miles traveled (VMT), which help PBOT understand the full available to provide a reliable trans-
improves safety and reduces carbon environmental impact of this portation option while optimizing the
emissions and air pollution. However, new mode across all stages number of e-scooters in operation—
if e-scooter operations create more of an e-scooter’s lifetime, measured as utilization, or number of
motor vehicle miles to deploy, charge, from raw material extraction trips per vehicle per day—to minimize
and rebalance e-scooters than the through manufacturing, negative environmental impacts from
trips riders replace, then the overall use, repair, and disposal. production and operational VMT.
environmental impact could be Companies that achieved high utiliza-
Early academic research suggests
negative. E-scooter manufactur- tion rates received increases in their
that the greatest opportunity to
ing and disposal could also create fleet allotments. Across companies,
reduce an e-scooter’s overall life
significant climate and air pollution. the average utilization rate in 2019
cycle impact lies in the e-scooter
was 1.9 rides per e-scooter per day.
To better understand the environ- production process and materials,
mental costs and benefits of shared in extending the life of e-scooters, At the time of publication, PBOT had
e-scooters, Portland’s second and in the vehicle miles driven by received LCAs from several compa-
e-scooter pilot program includes a car, van, or truck to deploy, charge, nies and is conducting analysis with
first-in-the-industry requirement and rebalance e-scooters.9 the Oregon Department of Environ-
that e-scooter companies conduct mental Quality to better understand
emissions associated with e-scooters.
29
Utilization: Trips per vehicle per day, over time
3.5
NUMBER OF RIDES PER VEHICLE PER DAY
2.5
2
MAXIMUM
1.5
AVERAGE
1
0.5 MINIMUM
0
APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
Preliminary takeaways include: charge, deploy, and rebalance • Charging models that reduce the
e-scooters influence the carbon need to transport e-scooters via
• Aluminum and battery pro-
impact of operations in the model. use of swappable batteries or
duction have a relatively high
on-street charging stations.
environmental impact; Based on our preliminary analysis
of the company life cycle analyses, In addition, PBOT and Portland
• Disposal and recycling prac-
existing research, and what cities State University are working with
tices have a relatively low en-
know about bike-share operations, e-scooter companies to research
vironmental impact; and
cities hoping to minimize envi- the amount of vehicle miles traveled
• Transitioning fleets to low- or ronmental impact of e-scooter in operations and identify potential
no-emission vehicles used operations should prioritize: ways to reduce operational VMT.
for deployment, rebalanc-
• Models made of
ing, and charging operations
recycled materials;
will be important to reduce
environmental impact. • More durable models
that last longer;
As with all modeling exercises, the
assumptions made in the analysis • Efficient deployment and rebal-
are important determinants of ancing of e-scooters with electric
the study’s results. For example, vehicles, including e-bikes; and
company assumptions about staff
and contractor travel patterns to
30
03
Equity
Can e-scooters meet
the needs of historically
underserved Portlanders?
31
As more Portlanders are priced What we heard from historically
out of close-in parts of the city to underserved Portlanders
areas farther out with poorer transit
service, e-scooters could offer an During the 2018 pilot, PBOT held associated with white-dominant
opportunity for underserved Port- three focus groups with Black culture, and e-scooters may or
landers to more easily get around. Portlanders, East Portlanders, may not share that association.
When Portlanders become burdened and Portlanders with disabilities.

Among people with disabilities,
by growing housing and transporta- While some East Portlanders and some expressed concerns about
tion costs, it becomes more difficult Black Portlanders expressed enthu- safety, enforcing user behavior,
and takes more time to get to school, siasm for e-scooters, others noted balance and vision challeng-
work, the grocery store, places of a number of barriers: a concern for es, fear of being hit by people
worship, and community centers. traffic safety, the risk that Black driving, and parking issues
Barriers to e-scooter use exist, e-scooter riders would be targeted when e-scooters block sidewalks,
but if they are managed properly for racial profiling and harass- ADA ramps, and transit stops.
and promoted in partnership with ment, cost of renting, needing to However, others saw e-scooters
the community, e-scooters could transport children, not having a as an accommodation that could
help address barriers to mobility. helmet, not having a safe place offer more independence.
to learn to ride, age restrictions,
and fear of being overcharged.
In addition, some residents do not

In a 2018 citywide
have access to a bank account
representative poll,
74%
or smartphone or do not wish to
submit their account information OF PEOPLE
OF COLOR
over a smartphone application. A
and
66%
lack of safe bike infrastructure
often makes bike and e-scooter use OF PEOPLE
LIVING ON
uncomfortable or unsafe. Despite LOW INCOMES
significant bike ridership among
VIEWED E-SCOOTERS
people of color, bicycling is often
POSITIVELY
32
“As a person without the
money for a car and a knee
injury which prevents
biking, e-scooters have
opened a whole new world
to me.
Who rides e-scooters?

Across the country, a gender gap taken transit had an e-scooter not due to cost. However, people of
exists among e-scooter riders, and it been available and higher-income color were slightly more likely to
exists in Portland, too—60% of rider Portlanders saying they would have replace a transit trip or car trip.
survey respondents identified as driven or taken a taxi, Uber, or Lyft.
A small number of survey respon-
men compared to 33% as women.10
People of color were more likely dents identified as having a mobil-
Men were more likely than women to
than white people to choose to ride ity-related disability. Portlanders
ride regularly and use e-scooters as
an e-scooter because they do not with mobility-related disabilities
transportation rather than recreation.
have a car or because the ride was were less likely to own a car and
Lower-income Portlanders and just for fun. People of color were more likely to be interested in
Portlanders of color were more also more likely to say they would low-income pricing plans, cash
likely to have ridden an e-scooter ride e-scooters more if the cost was payment options, and renting
only once rather than regularly. lower and if there were more avail- without a smartphone but to not
The types of trips e-scooter rides able near transit. People of color know how to access these options.
replaced varied with income, with were slightly less likely to replace
For more information, see
lower-income Portlanders more likely walking trips with e-scooter rides
Appendix C: Summer 2019 E-Scoot-
to say they would have walked or than white people were, perhaps
33 er User Survey Findings.
East Portland e-scooter use
starts with deployment
In the 2019-2020 pilot, PBOT requires Deployment—making sure
companies to deploy 15% of their scooters are available to ride—
fleet in East Portland each day. Ad-
herence to this requirement varies by
company. Some companies attempt
in East Portland is an import-
ant first step to increasing
scooter use, but it is not suffi-
“My bus stop
to meet the requirement but falter at cient. Deeper engagement with is about .8
times, while others appear to ignore communities to tailor e-scooter
miles from my
the requirement. However, compli- services to meet their needs will
ance generally increased from 2018. be necessary. For this reason, in house, which I
Several other cities have deployment
addition to deployment, PBOT also can walk but I
requirements, as well as deploy-
examines how much scooters are
actually used in East Portland.
would prefer to
ment caps, in defined geographic
ride a scooter.
areas. For example, Minneapolis PBOT measured the East Portland
requires 30% fleet deployment in trip ratio, or the number of trips I always check
areas of concentrated poverty across taken in East Portland as a percent- if there is one
the city, coupled with a 40% fleet
cap in their downtown—meaning
age of the total number of trips taken
in Portland. A high East Portland
nearby my
that if a company is allotted 500 trip ratio suggests that companies house but there
e-scooters, 150 would need to be are successfully promoting scooter rarely is, maybe
deployed in areas of concentrated
poverty, while no more than 200
ridership as a transportation option
in East Portland. PBOT awarded
once a month.
could be deployed downtown.
Poor infrastructure in historically

additional scooters to companies
with high East Portland trip ratios
through its incentive process. Across
—2019 e-scooter user
survey respondent
”
underserved parts of Portland and
all companies, the average
other cities can create challeng-
percentage of trips that started
es for e-scooter use even when
in East Portland was 6%.
deployment requirements are in
place. For example, many parts of
East Portland lack sidewalks, and
the sidewalks that do exist may
be narrow or poorly maintained,
making it difficult to find a place to
deploy or park scooters legally.
34
EQUIT Y
E-scooters are not the most

affordable way to travel
At the time of publication, the and local assistance programs PBOT incentivizes companies—in the
price of a typical e-scooter trip was are eligible. Some companies also form of additional allotted e-scoot-
$5.55 for an average 14-minute give discounts for U.S. veterans. ers—to clearly and readily list the
trip. This is more than twice the For low-income users, most com- options on their websites and/or
cost of a transit trip ($2.50 for panies discount or waive unlock apps. PBOT also created a webpage
a 2.5-hour adult pass) and more fees and discount per-minute fees, to list the options for each company.11
than three times the cost of a while one company offers a certain
The average percentage of users
typical BIKETOWN trip ($1.68 number of free rides each month.
on low-income plans across all
for an average 21-minute ride).
Cash payment options vary companies was 0.9%, with a range
Companies operating e-scooters in widely. Some companies allow users of 0.4 to 1.6%. One company told
Portland were required to submit a to use prepaid credit or debit cards, PBOT that Portland has the highest
low-income pricing plan, options for while others offer on-site rentals from low-income signup rate in the
people to use the service without a their warehouses for an agreed-upon country—an obvious sign of room
smartphone, and multiple languag- length of time. Most companies for growth locally and nationally.
es for printed materials. In select- offer text-message-based service
According to company data submitted
ing which companies to permit, to those without smartphones.
to PBOT, only a handful of people use
PBOT prioritized companies that
A PBOT audit of low-income, cash, cash and non-smartphone options.
provided apps in multiple languag-
and non-smartphone options found
es and options to pay with cash. However, summer 2019 user survey
that information about these options
responses show that 59% of low-in-
Low-income pricing plans on company websites is general-
come respondents did not know
vary by company, but people ly difficult to find, and ease of the
about low-income payment plans.
enrolled in most federal, state, signup process varies by company.
Thirty-eight percent of low-income
respondents said they were not
Average cost aware of cash payment options but
per trip interested, and 25% of low-income
respondents said the same regarding
non-smartphone rental options.
BIKETOWN TRANSIT CAR TRIP SCOOTER-SHARE
$
1.68 $
2.50 $4.08 $5.55
per average for a per average per average
per trip
average
12 for a
2.5-hour per average
personal per trip
average
14
trip = 2.5-hour
adult fare trip 5trip13
vehicle trip 4
21 min Adult fare
x $0.08/min
35
Making the shared mobility
economy more inclusive
From maintenance technicians to people, including people of color,
community outreach teams, the low-income people, immigrants and
shared mobility economy can refugees, veterans, people with dis-
offer career paths for under- abilities, women, LGBTQIA+ people,
Transportation Wallet
for Residents of
served Portlanders if companies and formerly incarcerated people.
Affordable Housing
embrace equitable hiring practic-
One company worked with Central
es and provide living-wage jobs In summer 2019, PBOT part-
City Concern, a local social service
with good working conditions. nered with seven affordable
agency with workforce development
housing providers to launch
During the pilot, PBOT is offering an programs, to hire from its pool of con-
a pilot program tailoring its
incentive—in the form of additional stituents. Several applicants passed
existing Transportation Wallet
allotted e-scooters—to reward com- a phone screen and interviewed for
incentive program to their
panies that create partnerships with warehouse positions, but ultimately,
residents. This pilot offered free
workforce development organizations none of the candidates were hired.
and reduced-price transporta-
to hire traditionally underserved
tion options including TriMet
passes, BIKETOWN member-
ships, and credits for e-scooters,
car-share, and accessible private
“I used to use e-scooters for for-hire rides, like Uber, Lyft,

and taxis. At fairs held at each
site, staff from PBOT, transpor-
my work commute quite a lot. tation providers, and property
I noticed costs slowly increasing managers helped residents
on both apps I use for the same

sign up for these options.
route to work every day. Once

the costs became more than
500
The program reached over
that of a bus ride, I switched

back to riding my bike and LOW-INCOME RESIDENTS
only using e-scooters for one- IN TEN LANGUAGES

AND WAS THE PRIMARY
off occasions. SOURCE OF LOW-IN-
”
COME PLAN SIGN-UPS
FOR E-SCOOTERS
—2019 e-scooter user survey respondent
36
04
Safety
Can e-scooters move
people safely and help
us realize Vision Zero?
37
“I wish I could be
safer by using
a helmet, but
oftentimes I do
not have one on
hand.
survey respondent
”
E-scooter crashes and
injuries in Portland
The entrance of a new mode onto because comprehensive data are inherently more dangerous with
city streets across the U.S. marks has not been collected for these more people sharing the street and
an opportunity to monitor safety other modes. For example, although using it in different ways. Suburban
from the beginning. When as- PBOT requires e-scooter compa- and rural trips—where e-scooters
sessing crashes and injuries from nies to submit data on the number generally do not travel—are typ-
e-scooters, it is critical to con- of trips and distance of each trip ically safer on a per-mile basis.
textualize e-scooters within the taken by e-scooter, no such dataset
Finally, it is important to keep in
broader transportation system. exists for any other modes, includ-
mind that the majority of e-scoot-
ing automobiles. Instead, cities have
The strongest predictor of er-related deaths that have occurred
historically relied on sampling and
transportation-related injuries nationally resulted from an e-scoot-
modeling for automobile and bicycle
is total vehicle miles traveled. er rider being hit by a car involved
trips, but those methods are not
PBOT designed the 2018 and 2019 high-speed driving and lack of safe
nearly as accurate as the data PBOT
-20 E-Scooter Pilot Programs to bicycle infrastructure.15 In the over
receives from e-scooter providers.
understand whether e-scooters can 1.7 million e-scooter trips people
increase safety on our streets by re- Likewise, injury data are collected have taken during Portland’s two
placing car trips and reducing vehicle differently across modes, making e-scooter pilots through 2019,
miles traveled. Due to the significant comparisons difficult. Only fatalities there have been no fatalities.
percentage of e-scooter trips that and serious injuries are tracked for
Since the 2018 e-scooter pilot,
riders would have otherwise made automobile collisions over time.
PBOT has partnered with the Mult-
by car, it is possible that e-scooter Minor injuries resulting from car
nomah County Health Department
use may contribute to a reduction crashes are generally not tracked.
to track probable injuries related to
in serious injuries and fatalities.
In addition, fundamental differ- e-scooters. Arrival by ambulance is
Directly comparing e-scooter col- ences between e-scooter and used as a proxy for injury severity.
lision and injury rates to automo- automobile travel make com- Similar to 2018, the rate of injuries
bile—or even bicycle—collision paring safety across modes related to e-scooters in 2019 was 2.5
and injury rates is challenging difficult. Urban trips of all types per 10,000 trips or 2.3 per 10,000
38
SAFET Y
miles. Injury rates in Portland are

consistent with those observed in
other cities. For more information, Vision Zero in Portland
see Appendix D: Multnomah County
The City of Portland has com- • People share responsibility:
Health Department Injury Data 2019.
mitted to the Vision Zero goal Traditionally, individual road
In addition, to improve reporting of eliminating traffic deaths users have borne much of the
and analysis of e-scooter injuries in and serious injuries. Achieving responsibility for their own
the future, PBOT submitted a letter this goal requires a systemic safety while traveling. Under
to the National Center for Health approach that starts from a the Safe Systems approach, that
Statistics to support the creation of basic assumption: human life responsibility is shared among
a code that medical professionals and health should not be com- those who design, build, operate
can use to report injuries related promised by the need to travel. and use the street system.
to micromobility devices, and the
The “Safe Systems” approach • Built-in protections minimize
code was successfully created.
undergirds Portland’s Vision Zero the deadly consequences of
work and has four principles: mistakes: The street system
must be designed with multiple
• People are vulnerable:
protective elements so that if
Simple physics dictates that
one element fails, others still
1.7
In over
the human body cannot
MILLION withstand impact from a
offer protection. For example,
E-SCOOTER TRIPS vehicle moving faster than 20
a system to protect pedes-
taken during Portland’s two trians includes frequent safe

miles per hour without sig-
e-scooter pilots through 2019, crossings, street lighting, a
nificant risk of serious injury
there have been no fatalities. cultural acceptance of slower
or death. People walking and
speeds and people who
bicycling are at the greatest
are educated about how to
Injuries related to e-scooters risk in the event of a crash.
interact safely on the streets.
2.5
in 2019 was
• People make mistakes: Even
PER 10,000 when they are not deliberate-
PBOT uses crash data from the
TRIPS ly taking risks, people make
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation to inform street design
2.3
or
mistakes that result in crashes.
PER 10,000 This is true whether they are
changes, education efforts, and
MILES driving, walking, or travel-
other aspects of Vision Zero and
traffic safety. This data indicates
ing by other means. Deadly
that more than 11,000 automobile
crashes will not be eliminated
crashes are reported in Portland
unless we design streets to
in a typical year, with addition-
help reduce the frequen-
al crashes likely unreported.
cy and severity of crashes
resulting from human error.
39
“Please get rid
of the [state]
helmet law…
Given biased
policing of such
laws, the helmet
law is a major
equity issue.
survey respondent
”
Helmet use Self-reported helmet use
remains low
10%
70%
PBOT’s summer 2019 e-scooter user Sometimes
survey found that Portlanders and wear a helmet
visitors wear helmets at different
20 %
rates, but helmet use generally Never or rarely
remains low. Helmets are required
PORTLANDERS wear a helmet
by state law, but PBOT lacks the Usually or always
ability to enforce helmet require- wear a helmet
ments, because only the police have
6%
the authority to make traffic stops.
9%
Staff observations suggest
that people who own personal Sometimes
wear a helmet
e-scooters tend to wear helmets
Usually or always
85%
more often than people riding wear a helmet
shared e-scooters, similar to the VISITORS
trend seen with bike-share.
Never or rarely
wear a helmet
40
SAFET Y
Sidewalk riding is decreasing

but is still a concern
Oregon state law prohibits riding likely to ride on the sidewalk when to the two companies with seated
e-scooters on sidewalks. Sidewalk no bike infrastructure was present. e-scooter models; the remaining
riding can pose danger to and To entice e-scooter riders to join bike 94% were issued to the four com-
intimidate pedestrians, partic- riders in the bike lane, new infra- panies with standing models.16
ularly to seniors and those with structure will need to be built. Better
6 % were
limited mobility or vision-, hearing-, riding infrastructure for bikes
issued to 2
companies with
and mobility-related disabili- and e-scooters—particularly seated models
ties. These challenges can be protected lanes separated from
compounded at night and when cars—can make micromobility at-
riders use sidewalks carelessly. tractive for more types of people.
Based on our research, PBOT Anecdotally, seated e-scooter models 206 SIDEWALK
CITATIONS
sees sidewalk riding as an indi- tend to deter riders from using the
cator that e-scooter users do not sidewalk because their “form factor”
feel safe riding in the street. For is relatively similar to a bicycle or
94%
example, anecdotal observations moped. In 2019, 11 of 172 sidewalk
show that riders were up to twice as riding citations, or 6%, were issued were issued to 4
companies with
standing models
Safety summit brings

companies together
In response to concerns about safety, about safe riding, offering helmet
PBOT held a “safety summit” with all giveaways at hotels and large em-
the companies operating in Portland ployers, working with a third party
in November 2019. The purpose of on parking enforcement, in-app
the summit was to collaborative- messaging campaigns, and involving
ly discuss safety concerns and customers in advocating for better
identify areas where industry bike and e-scooter infrastruc-
could voluntarily provide solu- ture. In addition to these primary
tions. Attendees discussed initiatives concerns, other concerns discussed
undertaken in other markets that included underage riders, tandem
could be replicated in Portland, such riding, and rain and wet weather
as a shared marketing campaign that create slippery surfaces.
41
Parking behavior is improving as
more people learn the rules
E-scooter parking remains a primary corrals and developed a permitting to double its rate of bike rack
concern for Portlanders, though process to allow companies to test installation, and Seattle pledged
rates of improper parking have e-scooter parking and charging to add 1,500 bike parking spaces
decreased from 2018, possibly due stations in the right-of-way. in 2019 using fees from its
to a better understanding among dockless bike share program.17
Other cities are taking different
the riding public of the rules for
approaches to e-scooter parking. For more information on
parking e-scooters and the negative
For example, for its permanent parking, see Appendix B:
impact improper parking can have.
e-scooter program, San Francis- E-Scooter Parking Solutions.
User survey results show that Port- co created a “lock-to” system
landers understand how to properly in which e-scooters must come
park e-scooters more often than equipped with a lock and users must
visitors. Eighty-five percent of all lock them to a bike rack. Washing-
question respondents correct- ton, D.C. and Chicago are imple-
ly identified a photo showing menting a similar locking system.
proper e-scooter parking in the
Implementing a lock-to system in
“furnishings” zone of the sidewalk.
Portland may require significant ex-
During the pilot, PBOT installed pansion of bike parking spaces.
Furnishings
24 designated e-scooter parking San Francisco is using e-scooter fees Zone Through Zone
3’ 6’
User education
through various channels
During the 2018 pilot, PBOT heard community-based organizations and The video had been viewed over
that most e-scooter riders learned at events like Sunday Parkways, and 2,400 times by July 2020, and Lime
about laws and rules directly in the offering helmet giveaways to riders. publicized a version of it nationally.
e-scooter company apps. For the
PBOT also partnered with Disability
second pilot, PBOT strengthened
Rights Oregon; Lime; and Rooted in
requirements for companies
Rights, a Washington-based disability
to include Portland-specific
advocacy organization, to produce
laws in their app at the time
“Scoot Smart.” a safety video that
of registration and at rental.
raises awareness of the importance
In addition to the baseline require- of sidewalk access for people with
ments, some companies undertook disabilities.18 The video seeks to create
additional education efforts, such empathy among e-scooter riders by
as launching weekly in-app mes- showing them how people with disabil-
saging campaigns, hosting safety ities are impacted when they ride on
workshops and demonstrations with the sidewalk and park improperly.
42
SAFET Y
Citations by PBOT
In the first pilot, PBOT heard clear PBOT does not have the authority to
concerns from the community about make traffic stops; this authority lies
safety regarding sidewalk riding and with the Portland Police Bureau. This
improper parking. To address those means PBOT staff cannot stop riders
concerns, PBOT developed citation who are violating the rules. PBOT Reg-
mechanisms in the second pilot to ulatory staff documents instances of
dissuade unacceptable behavior illegal activity and charges companies
from users and companies. accordingly. This is the same process
used for ticketing car-share users
Throughout the second pilot,
for traffic and parking violations.
PBOT staff has been issuing cita-
tions for illegal riding and parking. In 2019, PBOT staff issued 921
Improper parking warrants a $15 penalties and 60 warnings, costing
fine per e-scooter, and illegal companies over $20,000. Of these
riding, including sidewalk riding citations, 82% were for improper
or riding in prohibited areas, parking and 18% were for sidewalk
warrants a $50 fine per instance. riding. Most citations occurred in
the Central City, where e-scoot-
Sidewalk Riding Warning
er ridership was highest.
Sidewalk Riding Penalty
Parking Warning
Parking citations issued by PBOT Parking Penalty
SEE INSET ON
NEXT PAGE
FOR SIDEWALK
VIOLATIONS
43
Geofencing and speed governing
in prohibited areas
“Geofencing” refers to GPS technol- PBOT is also working with companies from 0 to 8 mph in key locations.
ogy that changes the behavior of an to implement speed-governing Additionally, companies self-im-
e-scooter when it crosses a pre-de- technology. Effective November pose speed governing when riders
termined geographic boundary. 1, 2019, PBOT required companies exit their company’s service area.
“Speed governing” is one example to slow e-scooters from 15 mph
Despite the opportunity to regulate
in which e-scooters are slowed to 12 mph in Waterfront Park, the
vehicle speeds remotely, speed
down or stopped in certain areas. Eastbank Esplanade, and the Spring-
governing needs to prove safe for
water Corridor; slow e-scooters
During the second pilot, PBOT has users, meaning scooter speeds
to 3 mph in the North and South
required companies to geofence “no must slow down at a reasonable
Park Blocks; and slow e-scooters to
ride” and “no parking” zones in rate. Shortcomings in GPS accuracy
a stop in natural areas like Forest
the city with GPS, including Water- sometimes present challenges to
Park, parks with playgrounds,
front Park and other Portland parks. effective geofencing, but PBOT
and other areas of concern. PBOT
Users receive warnings when they hopes that advances in GPS and
audits companies to ensure com-
ride into these areas and are prohib- sidewalk detection technology can
pliance with this requirement.
ited from ending a trip in the app. open more opportunities for cities to
Cities including Santa Monica, require that companies use tech-
Detroit, San Diego, and others nology to address rider behavior.19
require speed governing ranging
Sidewalk riding citations issued by PBOT
Sidewalk Riding Warning

Sidewalk Riding Penalty
Parking Warning
Parking Penalty
Geofencing requirements around Portland’s waterfront

were reinforced with on-street stickers.
44
05
What’s Next
How will e-scooters
fit into Portland’s
transportation landscape?
45
“I love these options for getting
Based on the two e-scooter pilots in
2018 and 2019-2020, PBOT believes around Portland. I use them very
e-scooters hold promise to fill gaps often and would use them more but
in Portland’s transportation system,
especially if we can continue to
they have raised their prices, so I
reduce remaining climate, equity, have cut back on them. Our family
and safety concerns. After extend- has been carless in PDX for 2.5+
ing the second pilot through 2020
to allow time for the industry to
years and this helps us maintain
evolve, PBOT recommends moving that lifestyle.
”
forward with developing a per-
manent e-scooter program to
—2019 e-scooter user survey respondent
help make e-scooters a viable way
for Portlanders to get around.
A learning organization
Throughout our first and second regular compliance efforts, and ef- Data management
e-scooter pilots, PBOT has learned fectively engage with other bureaus.
While mobility data unlocks exciting
several important lessons about what In addition, PBOT is a large, complex
opportunities for cities to inform city
it means for an organization to manage organization and coordinating
planning activities and to evaluate the
the introduction of new mobility decision-making across various
impact of new services on the trans-
services in ways that can advance city teams and management lines
portation system, it also requires
goals and policies. Key lessons include: has been challenging at times.
a thoughtful approach. Managing
It is important to recognize, though, mobility data for thousands of trips
Staff capacity
and coordinating that the e-scooter program is each day is an undertaking that
decision-making testing out new organizational requires city investment in staffing,
approaches in local government technical infrastructure, policy devel-
As many cities have discovered,
and, despite some challenges, opment, and ongoing staff training
managing a fleet of several thousand
generally proving successful. and peer learning. Although PBOT
e-scooters across several differ-
has made some of these investments
ent companies requires dedicated To further improve our practice
during its first and second e-scoot-
staffing to effectively run a program in the future, PBOT will need to
er pilots, we have also questioned
and solve problems. While PBOT has create a fee structure that allows
the opportunity costs associ-
leveraged existing staff from several the agency to appropriately
ated with those commitments
teams across the bureau, PBOT has increase its staff capacity. PBOT
and the fact that those resources
experienced challenges dedicating will also need to further stream-
may be better spent elsewhere.
enough staff capacity to manage line how cross-functional teams
day-to-day operations and relation- coordinate and make decisions.
ships with the companies, conduct
46
Additionally, at times we have found it Additionally, it has been challeng- can literally change from day to
hard to use mobility data to regulate ing at times to implement some day. At times, this can constrain
e-scooter companies because com- of the requirements around our limited staff capacity even more.
panies use MDS differently and there climate and equity goals. For
This is further complicated by the
are no industry standards for example, our cutting-edge require-
high number of companies current-
measuring performance against ment for companies to submit life
ly in our market and the fact that
technical terms that cities define, cycle analyses (LCAs) was hard to
static regulations are hard to adapt
like deployment or compliance with apply consistently across companies
in response to changing forces. This
equity goals. These factors leave ranging from a small start-up with
highlights the advantage of having
room for alternative interpretations Portland as their first market to large
fewer companies operating in our
of the data, which has complicated tech companies with valuations in
city and the need to reorient our
the city’s ability to hold companies ac- excess of a billion dollars. Further-
relationship with e-scooter providers.
countable. To address these challeng- more, developing partnerships with
In the future, PBOT should seek out
es, PBOT has recently begun to rely experts who could evaluate the
companies that are committed to our
on a third-party data aggregator, Ride LCAs on our behalf was time inten-
goals and act as partners who can
Report, for their technical expertise sive. In addition, PBOT instituted a
help respond to dynamic changes.
and assistance, while simultaneous- requirement that companies deploy
ly managing data in-house. In the 15% of their e-scooters each day in
future, PBOT will need to determine East Portland in order to promote
whether it wants to continue this access for historically underserved
hybrid approach or rely solely on communities living there. However,
a vendor like Ride Report to help deployment alone is not enough for
the city manage its mobility data. meaningful access, and companies
must work in deeper partnership with
Having clear expectations community-based organizations to
and an eye for better meet the needs of community.
implementation
Additionally, in the future PBOT
PBOT outlined regulations and should be clearer about how
programmatic requirements to we will implement some of
test whether e-scooters could help these policies before institut-
advance those goals around safety, ing them as requirements.
equity, climate, and congestion.
However, some of these Need to be dynamic
requirements could have been In cities around the world, the intro-
clearer or simpler. For example, duction of e-scooters has pressed
we adopted most of our e-scooter transportation agencies to become
parking regulations from our more flexible and adaptable than
requirements for locating bike racks, ever before. For organizations that
which meant we ended up with rules develop and deliver multi-year plans
that were inapplicable or ineffective. and capital projects, e-scooters
In the future, regulations like this demand a highly dynamic response
should be rethought and streamlined. from the city to conditions that
47
Defining the operating model
for a permanent program
Contract/license to Number of operators of 2020. At the same time, just as
operate riders need to know where e-scooters
During the second pilot, six com-
will be available on a regular basis,
During the pilot programs, PBOT used panies operated in Portland, while
companies also need the stability
a competitive permitting process to other cities have selected as few
of longer-term contracts with cities
select six companies to test these as one. More companies operating
to justify investments towards city
new technologies within a set of rules in Portland means the city needs
goals. Portland’s first pilot was 120
established by the city. However more staff capacity to administer
days and its second is 19 months;
real-time monitoring, compliance, and regulate the program. More
meanwhile, some cities have recently
and enforcement were sometimes a companies can also mean poor user
structured operating agreements
challenge because of staff capacity experiences for Portlanders who
with e-scooter companies for as
and because a regulatory permit need to download multiple apps on
many as five years. Moving forward,
fosters a “regulator-regulated entity” their phone and navigate different
PBOT recommends pursuing two-
relationship with the companies that price structures. More companies
to three-year operating agree-
cannot always be collaborative. also makes successful integration
ments with e-scooter providers.
with other modes, like transit, more
In contrast, PBOT oversees
difficult. Moving forward, PBOT
BIKETOWN using a different model—
recommends selecting one to
an exclusive contract—to provide
three companies for Portland,
bike-share services in Portland. This
which could strike the right balance
public-private partnership estab-
between user choice and the
lishes a stronger basis for collabo-
city’s management capacity
ration and proactive problem-solv-
while allowing for more collabo-
ing with less need for regulations.
rative, productive relationships.
Moving forward, PBOT recommends
applying the lessons learned from
Duration of agreement
this model to e-scooters, which
means using a contract or license The duration of the operating
to establish a partnership(s) to agreement will need to balance
operate e-scooters in Portland. the creation of a stable working

environment for companies
and fostering optimal condi-
tions for Portland’s riders with
the potential risks inherent in
a young industry and volatile
market. In our city alone, we have
seen e-scooter companies go out of
business and shared e-scooter and
bike companies merge since the start
48
Partnership criteria for
a permanent program
In addition to meeting basic re- E-scooter models services form a dynamic ecosystem
quirements in service of city goals that supports getting around without
PBOT will be looking for micromo-
for mobility, climate, equity, and a car—whether by choice or by
bility companies that offer vehicles
safety, PBOT will consider other necessity—and where user choice is
to support a range of body types
factors when selecting one to three informed by factors like price, avail-
and abilities and an ability to
companies to operate in our city. ability, and convenience. However,
cover different distances. During
users are increasingly frustrated by
Good partners the second pilot, PBOT heard that
the need to engage with multiple
seated e-scooters provided more
For a permanent e-scooter program, apps in order to meet their mobility
stability, better balance, and access
PBOT will select companies that needs, especially due to the personal
for people certain types of mobil-
will be good partners in meeting privacy and financial risks that result
ity-related disabilities, as well as
city goals and are independently from having personal information on
reduced sidewalk riding due to their
motivated to exceed minimum multiple platforms. Moving forward,
similarity to a bicycle in form.
requirements and make e-scoot- PBOT will look for creative solutions
that reduce the need for multiple
ers work across the city for all Integration with
Portlanders. PBOT will prioritize other services apps and aim to ensure e-scoot-
companies that are enthusias- ers are interoperable with other
New mobility services like shared
tic about and able to adhere to transportation systems, including
micromobility, ride-hailing, and car-
all program requirements. BIKETOWN and transit, in order to
share do not operate in isolation from
foster synergy between services and
one another. Rather, as PBOT’s 2019
Past pilot performance help advance city policies and goals.
New Mobility Snapshot shows, these
In assessing whether companies
can be good partners, PBOT should
assess performance of compa-
nies in other markets and in
Portland, when applicable. For
example, in Washington, D.C.’s
evaluation of applicants, historical
behavior in the District accounts
for 25% of the company’s score.
49
A vision for e-scooter
operations in Portland
The e-scooter pilot programs served to
identify challenges in e-scooter manage-
ment before the creation of a permanent
program. In an ideal e-scooter program,
the industry would work collaboratively
with PBOT to achieve the following:
Congestion Safety Equity

and Climate
• Education: The public • Access across the city: Enough
• Relationship to transit and
should know Portland’s e-scooters should be deployed in
driving trips: E-scooters
e-scooter rules and laws. East Portland and across the city
should support and comple-
to make them viable and reliable
ment, not detract from, transit • Geofencing and speed
travel options for all Portlanders.
and increase the percentage governing: E-scooters should slow
of trips shifted from driving. down and stop in prohibited areas. • Pricing: Pricing should be trans-
parent and affordable; subscrip-
• Environmental impacts: • Parking: E-scooters should
tion models or loyalty programs
E-scooter companies should not impede access for people
should encourage affordability.
minimize operational vehicle walking and rolling.
miles traveled and use electric • Low-income plans: Compa-
• Infrastructure: E-scooter
vehicles and electric tricycles in nies should work with commu-
companies should support
operations. E-scooter companies nity-based organizations to
city efforts to increase infra-
should maximize the lifespan increase use of low-income pricing
structure for micromobility.
of their e-scooters and reduce plans, cash payment options,
the life cycle impact of e-scooter • Customer service and and non-smartphone options.
manufacturing and disposal. reporting: E-scooter compa-
• Increasing use by under-
nies should be accountable
• Service area boundaries: served communities: E-scooters
to the public and ensure data
Companies should provide service should help community members
PBOT receives is useful.
across the city of Portland. meet their travel needs.
• Equitable hiring: Historical-

ly underserved communities
should be able to participate in
the new mobility economy.
• Employment: E-scooter com-

panies should provide sup-
portive wages and working
conditions for employees.
50
Resolving challenges through
successful partnership
Portland’s strong culture of active Many questions and challenges choices. It will also help create a more
transportation has created con- remain before the promise of e-scoot- predictable climate for company in-
ditions that welcome e-scooters ers can be fulfilled. As the e-scooter vestment so they can make long-term
as a new mode. Its bicycle culture, industry evolves and can better meet decisions about strategy, staffing,
bicycle activism, and well-developed Portland’s transportation goals, the operations, and programming. In
bicycle infrastructure have laid the relationship between PBOT and addition to meeting baseline require-
groundwork for e-scooter riding to e-scooter providers can shift from ments, companies must partner
become a feasible way to get around regulation to partnership—and with PBOT to ensure that e-scoot-
Portland. E-scooters largely do not to do that, PBOT will need focus its ers help Portlanders travel in
yet function as a true “last-mile” attention to create deeper relation- safe, convenient, equitable, and
connection to transit—but transit, ships with one to three providers. environmentally friendly ways.
e-scooters, and BIKETOWN rein-
The e-scooter landscape is rapidly
force each other as transportation
evolving. A permanent e-scooter
options that help people reliably
program in Portland with one to three
travel without a personal vehicle.
providers will help address the chal-
lenges and provide reliability for Port-
landers who want climate-friendly
51
Endnotes
1 Shared Micromobility in the U.S.: and Information Protection Principles, environmental impacts of shared
2018.” National Association of City looks ahead to next steps with Privacy dockless electric scooters.”
Transportation Officials, 2019. https:// Work Group.” Smart City PDX, June 19, Environmental Research Letters, August
nacto.org/shared-micromobility-2018/ 2019. https://www.smartcitypdx.com/ 2, 2019. https://iopscience.iop.org/
news/privacy-principles-adopted-plus- article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2da8
2 2018 E-Scooter Findings Report. next-steps
Portland Bureau of Transportation, 10 Krizek, Kevin J. and Nancy McGuckin.
2019. https://www.portland.gov/ 6 “The Privacy Project.” The New York “Shedding NHTS Light on the Use
sites/default/files/2020-04/pbot_e- Times. https://www.nytimes.com/series/ of ‘Little Vehicles’ in Urban Areas.”
scooter_01152019.pdf new-york-times-privacy-project Transport Findings, November 18,
2019. https://transportfindings.org/
3 Multnomah County 2017 Carbon 7 Carbon emissions saved = 0.000403 article/10777-shedding-nhts-light-on-
Emissions and Trends. Bureau of metric tons CO2/mile * 415,286 miles the-use-of-little-vehicles-in-urban-areas
Planning and Sustainability, September = 167 metric tons. “Greenhouse Gases
18, 2019. https://beta.portland.gov/ Equivalencies Calculator - Calculations 11 “Low-Income Pricing Plans.” Portland
sites/default/files/2019-09/climate- and References.” U.S. Environmental Bureau of Transportation, 2020. https://
data-report-final.pdf Protection Agency. https://www. www.portland.gov/transportation/
epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases- escooterpdx/low-income-pricing-plans
4 “Mobility Data.” National Association equivalencies-calculator-calculations-
of City Transportation Officials, 2019. and-references 12 Average BIKETOWN trip cost calculation
https://nacto.org/program/mobility- is based on the average trip duration
data/ 8 Edmonds, Ellen. “Your Driving of 21 minutes at a cost of $0.08 per
Costs.”AAA, September 12, 2019. https:// minute for pay-as-you-go users.
Open Mobility Foundation. https://www. newsroom.aaa.com/auto/your-driving-
openmobilityfoundation.org/ costs/ 13 Average car trip cost calculation is
based on average annual car ownership
5 City of Portland adopts data Privacy 9 Hollingsworth, Joseph; Brenna cost divided by the average number of
Copeland, and Jeremiah X Johnson. car trips taken per year. AAA estimates
“Are e-scooters polluters? The average annual car ownership costs
to be $9,282 (https://newsroom.aaa.
52
com/auto/your-driving-costs). Average 18 “Scoot Smart.” Portland Bureau
number of trips per year is derived of Transportation, December 3,
from the Oregon Household Activity 2019. https://www.youtube.com/
Survey conducted in Portland in watch?v=jX3rIcFIZZU
2011 (via Roger Geller, https://www.
portlandoregon.gov/transportation/ 19 “Lime Debuts Sidewalk Detection As
article/452524). The survey found Their Latest Innovation To Improve
an average of 9.2 total trips per day Scooters For All.” Lime, January 28,
and a 72.4% drive mode split for an 2020. https://www.li.me/second-street/
average of 6.66 drive trips per day. lime-debuts-sidewalk-detection-latest-
To reach an annual number of trips, innovation-to-improve-scooters-for-all
6.66 was multiplied by 342 travel
days per year (instead of 365) to
adjust average weekday travel data to
account for different travel patterns on
weekends and holidays. This resulted
in an average of 2,278 trips per year,
otherwise noted as $9,282 / (6.66 * 342)
= $4.08/trip.
14 Average e-scooter trip cost calculation

is based on an average trip duration
of 14 minutes applied to the cost
plans for each company at the time of
publication. An average across each
scooter company was taken to reach
$5.55.
• Bird: $1 + $0.29/minute + $0.25 street use

fee = $5.31
• Lime: $1 + $0.33/minute + $0.25 street use

fee = $5.87
• Razor: $1 + $0.34/minute + $0.25 street

use fee = $6.01
• Spin = $1 +$0.27/minute + $0.25 street

use fee = $5.03
15 Griswold, Alison. “At least 29 people

have died in electric scooter crashes
since 2018.” Quartz, February 7, 2020.
https://qz.com/1793164/at-least-29-
people-have-died-in-electric-scooter-
crashes/
16 One of the two seated scooter

companies did not begin full operations
in Portland until September 2019, and
the same company ceased operations in
February 2020.
17 “Rolling Out New Scooters.” San

Francisco Municipal Transportation
Agency, October 11, 2019. https://
www.sfmta.com/blog/rolling-out-new-
scooters
2019 Quarter 3 Bike Share Summary

Report. Seattle Department of
Transportation. https://www.seattle.
gov/Documents/Departments/SDOT/
BikeProgram/2019Q3_BikeShare_
Summary_Report.pdf
53
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CITY OF PORTLAND BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION

DIRECTOR Chris Warner

Parking and Regulatory

Alta Planning + Design

10,000 May 30 May 31

Closing the “trip reduction gap”

MDS continues to evolve, and cities

DEDICATED E-SCOOTER PARKING

CLIMATE IMPACTS OPERATIONAL VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED

E-scooters are popular in afternoons,

Compared to the first pilot in 2018,

Total trips by month (2018 and 2019)

E-scooter use by time of day in 2019 (total number of trips)

12AM 4,447 2472 2235 2149 2151 2699 4,096 20,249

People take e-scooters for Trip distance and duration are

Average trip distance

Average trip distance

While trip lengths may be shorter,

Riders travel in the Central City Consistent with 2018, a majority

and other parts of Portland of trips start in the Central City,

The relationship between e-scooters and transit

CONGESTION & CLIMATE

Portland as well as streets in East

Percentage of e-scooter activity that

TYPES OF BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE

Improved bicycling infrastruc-

construction of “Better Naito,” a

two-way bike lane running parallel ASH

ship along the prohibited waterfront

Naito Parkway Waterfront Park

Better Naito and Waterfront Park SE STARK ST

East Portland ridership grows

Between the first and second pilots,

This stretch of 102nd Avenue saw about 4,500 rides

other cities. Many cities across North

E-scooters and BIKETOWN

E-scooter and BIKETOWN ridership over time (2019)

Miles shifted per mode

Studying the climate

When Portlanders become burdened and Portlanders with disabilities.

In addition, some residents do not

—2019 e-scooter user survey respondent ”

Who rides e-scooters?

Poor infrastructure in historically

E-scooters are not the most

BIKETOWN TRANSIT CAR TRIP SCOOTER-SHARE

“I used to use e-scooters for for-hire rides, like Uber, Lyft,

I noticed costs slowly increasing managers helped residents

on both apps I use for the same

route to work every day. Once

that of a bus ride, I switched

only using e-scooters for one- IN TEN LANGUAGES

miles. Injury rates in Portland are

taken during Portland’s two trians includes frequent safe

Helmet use Self-reported helmet use

Sidewalk riding is decreasing

Safety summit brings

Sidewalk riding citations issued by PBOT

Sidewalk Riding Warning