Shared Mobility in the City of Saint Paul How Dockless Bicycles and E-Scooters Can Promote Equity, Improve Right-of- Way Management, and Foster Connectivity Throughout the City

Abstract

In the fall of 2018, the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota added two new forms of shared mobility to its transportation system: dockless bicycles and electric scooters. These new mobility options have been rapidly growing in popularity across the United States and can provide users with a fun and flexible transportation option. Dockless bicycles and e-scooters have a lower impact on the environment and can help reduce carbon emissions typically generated car driving. Privately owned and operated, mobility vendors provide and manage dockless bicycles and scooters which allow users to locate, pay-for, and unlock a ride all from a smartphone application. Dockless bicycles and scooters are a new form of transportation that many cities have been working to effectively integrate into their existing transportation infrastructures, including the City of Saint Paul. Much like other cities, the City of Saint Paul has a limited understanding of the existing conditions and emerging practices for managing dockless mobility in terms of: safety and equity, utilization and land use, right-of-way management, and how it interacts with other modes of transportation. Review of the existing conditions and academic literature indicate that because shared mobility technology is so new and rapidly developing, there is still much to learn about how to best integrate dockless bicycles and scooters. The City of Saint Paul has taken active steps to adapt ordinances and regulations and internal documents and procedures to address challenges learned during its shared mobility pilot phase in 2018. Additionally, the City obtained trip data from mobility vendors in order to understand how users were commuting throughout the city. For the first time in this report, the data collected from mobility vendors was analyzed using GIS software to identify trends and patterns in ridership among Saint Paul residents and visitors. Review of the existing conditions and data indicate that addressing barriers to equity and determining how to effectively manage the right-of-way are critical components to ensuring the continued success of shared mobility in the City in the future.