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How Cities Should Bring Back Scooters

It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way cities are thinking about their operations as they reopen.  From streamlining processes to operate more efficiently, to looking for ways to recoup lost revenue, cities are facing significant challenges and searching for solutions that will support them now and in the future.

With public transportation and ride sharing services limiting or freezing availability in some areas, mobility management is being viewed as an essential form of transportation, but there is more to it than just placing scooters back on streets and sidewalks.  Cities should be strategic with how they bring scooters back and think through ways to effectively manage the access individuals have to them.

One way Passport’s digital platform is helping cities with this recovery effort is by taking the same zone-based pricing principles used in parking, and applying them to micro-mobility.  This helps cities better manage the fleet size and distribution of scooters across underserved communities as they return, while also providing a seamless way to charge operators for time scooters are spent parked on valuable curb space.

Manage Supply and Demand More Effectively

Cities typically establish rates, rules and regulations to effectively manage the supply and demand of parking spaces.  Drivers are charged more or given less time to park their cars in high demand places, keeping vehicles in motion and ensuring there is proper supply of parking spaces.  

Passport is applying these same principles to micro-mobility to help cities monitor curb usage and control parking behavior for scooters.  Rather than using a cap and fee model, cities can implement time or location based parking rate structures to micro-mobility operators, creating an automated way to manage the fleet size of scooters that naturally encourages providers to deploy scooters in underserved areas.

Create a More Livable and Equitable Community

Passport is focused on solving city problems, including safety, clutter and equitable access to transportation.  By structuring rates based on location, cities can identify the areas they’d like to redistribute scooters and set higher pricing in high-volume zones to encourage turnover.

The City of Charlotte, NC has established low-cost zones along public transportation lines to help with first and last mile transportation.  The same dynamic rate structure can be applied during a pandemic or other event.  For example, it may be important to emphasize parking near hospitals and healthcare facilities, providing transportation services to those in need.  Passport’s system of rates and zones allows cities to react quickly to developing events.

Reduce Operational Complexity

Cities can use Passport to easily charge operators for time scooters are parked along valuable streets and sidewalks.  Cities can efficiently manage pricing and policies from a secure and centralized platform and have parking payments remitted directly to them using one system, saving time and eliminating the complexities of managing each operator separately.

“Passport allows us to efficiently push our rates and policies to scooter operators using one system”, says David Harrison, Transportation Planner for the City of Charlotte, NC.  “We’re able to affect where scooters are parked and keep them in motion more frequently, encourage utilization and rebalancing, by using a dynamic pricing structure.  Passport has helped us think beyond just session data by providing us with a quick and easy way to truly manage scooter distribution throughout our community.”