Who uses micromobility around the world?

BCG (Boston Consulting Group) and the University of St. Gallen researched large metropolitan areas, in the US, Europe, China, and Japan. They found out some key details on what people use micromobility in their daily lives for and collected some quick fack bits that help us to understand the markets better. Here are some key findings:

• 42% use micromobility for leisure, 39% for commuting, and 36% for errands.
• 30% used micromobility many times a week or daily and 20% several times a month.
• Wealth was a factor as well as in higher income areas people used micromobility more, but that can be also because of the lack of shared / micromobility vehicles available in low-income areas and/or outside city centers.
• Other things related to wealth were that after 44% of respondents said the bad weather was a barrier the next biggest factor barring them to use micromobility was the high cost. 
• Other 36% cited that a bad bike network was the problem while 34% mentioned the distance to the next available vehicle was the problem.

Why micromobility what method?

Reasons to use micromobility were: flexibility, reliability, price, weather, safety, and reduced travel time.

In France and Germany, reliability was the main reason while in the USA weather and safety were the biggest reasons. The swiss respondents mentioned flexibility as the main reason.

In the cities, bikes were still the preferred method although it might change fast as findings from other research we mentioned in our previous blog pointed out (The market shift to Europe and the winner of micromobility) – in this research, it was confirmed again that France leads Europe in e-scooter usage.

What rides is micromobility replacing?

32% of respondents used micromobility to replace riding a car but a higher percentage 55% chose to use it instead of walking and public transport. While replacing the usage of private cars is the goal of micromobility so that we can live in greener cities the replacement of rides in public transport or worse yet walking is the wrong direction. 

As we have always discussed in this blog the main goal of micromobility is to work as the last leg transport or work together with public transport – home – escooter – metro – escooter – office style. 

Still, we need to rejoice that 33% replaces riding a public car which is a big victory itself already. We are still in the early phases of micromobility as well. To create a greener world together the public will adjust and perhaps need some public awareness campaigns to help people to optimize their commuting needs.

All in all, we are clearly heading in the right direction away from fossils and private cars to more efficient, flexible, cheaper, and cleaner ways of transport.

Join Langfeite in the quest for micromobility and contact us today!