policy brief

New Metrics Are Needed to Understand the Environmental Benefits of Micromobility Services

Publication Date

May 18, 2022

Author(s)

Alan Jenn, Dillon Fitch-Polse, Hayden Andersen, Hossain Mohiuddin, Tatsuya Fukushige

Areas of Expertise

Public Transit, Shared Mobility, & Active Transportation Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

Abstract

Micromobility services (e.g., conventional and electric bikeshare programs and electric scootershare programs) hold great potential for reducing vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions if these services are used as substitutes for car travel and/or to access public transit. But estimating these environmental effects is challenging, as it requires measuring changes in human behavior—that is, the choice of what transportation mode to use. While many cities collect various micromobility usage metrics to regulate services, these metrics are not sufficient for calculating the sustainability benefits of these services.