Who Rides the Scooters (and Why?)
Since hitting city streets in the summer of 2021, Spin’s electric scooters have taken the city by storm - providing nearly a million of quick connections for countless Pittsburghers. The new mode continues to see frequent utilization but was especially popular during its first few months. Although the free-floating nature of the scooter-share model grants a new level of mobility around the city, their flexible nature also bestows a level of responsibility upon riders. Like privately-owned vehicles such as cars and bikes, it’s often up to the user to ensure regulations are followed. Due to a minority of riders misusing the scooters - either disobeying riding or parking regulations - some city residents were left wondering whether this service creates more of a nuisance than a benefit.
Now, almost a year and a half after their entry, the initial buzz around the e-scooters has calmed noticeably. Most residents accept them as just another mainstay of Pittsburgh transportation, akin to the buses and inclines. Along with this maturity comes an improved understanding of what purpose the e-scooters serve, such as who rides them, and why. This comprehension is crucial, as it helps to weigh the pros and cons of the new technology.
The goal of this new mobility tool is to assist and encourage a way to get around the city without needing to drive a car. Although reducing car use in Pittsburgh helps to achieve sustainability goals by curtailing congestion and reducing emissions, efforts to bolster transit and other shared transportation use are just as much a cause for social justice. 25% of Pittsburgh’s households do not own a car, largely due to their significant cost. Supplying reliable and expansive transportation options which meet the everyday needs of all Pittsburgh residents, especially those experiencing economic disenfranchisement, is a guiding principle that Move PGH takes very seriously.
In collaboration with officials from the City’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, Move PGH has administered a series of voluntary surveys for Spin’s riders. These surveys were distributed in December 2021, July 2022, and December 2022 and received an average of 1,500 responses each, constituting about 1% of Pittsburgh Spin riders. Here’s what we’ve learned so far, with the data to back it up:
Trip Data Insights:
Scooters are well used in Pittsburgh
Spin served 480,470 trips in Pittsburgh in 2022. With anywhere between 750 and 1,500 scooters deployed at any given time (depending on weather), that equates to an average of roughly one trip per scooter per day. This is a fairly typical utilization rate for a mid-sized city like Pittsburgh with a relatively small tourism economy. Although scooters served significantly more than the roughly 80,000 trips recorded by Pittsburgh Bikeshare in 2022, Spin’s ridership is dwarfed by the over 35 million trips served by Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) last year. Still, recent commuting estimates show that Pittsburgh’s regular transit riders are outmatched by single-occupancy-vehicle (SOV) drivers by over 5 to 1.
Weekends are a popular time, but ridership is also steady during weekdays
The most popular times for scooter riding are Friday and Saturday evenings, with trips often persisting into the early morning hours. Weekend afternoons also see a fair amount of usage, especially when coinciding with large gatherings such as sports games, concerts, and other special events. These common surge periods correlate with public transit’s reduced service hours, possibly indicating that scooters are a prevalent choice when riding transit is less of an option. That said, scooters also see reliable ridership during weekdays, typically during evening rush hours.
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Scooter Trips by Hour over a typical Monday to Sunday week in peak riding season.
Business districts and universities are hotspots, but rides occur almost everywhere
A breakdown of trip records show that the most popular spots for trips coincide generally with the city’s population and employment centers. Understandably, the Central Business District is the largest trip hotspot, followed by neighborhoods surrounding the Oakland universities, the North Shore, and the Strip District. That said, due to efforts to ensure scooters are equitably distributed, nearly all neighborhood experience some amount of scooter utilization. Approximately half of Pittsburgh’s 90 neighborhoods experienced over 10 trips a day between May and October. Neighborhoods on the fringes of Pittsburgh proper generally see less ridership.
Scooters are best for short trips
The median trip length for a scooter rental is between 0.75 and 1 mile, and about 80% of trips are under 1.5 miles. This is common among other scooter programs, which may make sense considering that these distances are more difficult to walk, but may not justify driving or taking transit. Since about 40% of Pittsburgh’s car trips are under two miles, scooters are often seen as a prime alternative to short drives. A recent survey indicated that as many as 35% of scooter trips could be replacing car trips, signaling a trend that has the potential to reduce a significant portion of Pittsburgh’s car trips.
Rider Identity Insights:
Rider racial/ethnic identities are representative of Pittsburgh’s breakdown
Surveys in 2022 show that Spin’s user base roughly aligns with Pittsburgh’s ethnic breakdown.
Folks of all incomes use scooters, but especially lower incomes
Looking at the reported household income of scooter riders, approximately half fall under the county’s median household income level. That said, it is possible this figure undercounts wealthier riders, as the surveyors received a small riding credit applied to their accounts.
Graph shows a well-distributed breakdown of riders’ reported household income
There are riders of all ages, but younger riders represent about half
Roughly 50% of riders are between the ages 18 and 24. Although this age group represents a significant portion of Pittsburgh’s population, scooters are clearly preferred by younger riders. This isn’t an uncommon statistic for scooter systems in the country, unsurprisingly this age group correlates strongly with a lack of car ownership.
Students love scooters, but they aren’t the main users
A recent survey found that a third of riders are students, either full (28.9%) or part-time (3.8%). Considering low car ownership rates among young riders as well as the fact that much of Pittsburgh’s off-campus student housing is up to a mile away from campuses, it’s understandable why 59% of student riders mainly use scooters to commute to school. That said, the majority of all riders report being employed either full (49.7%) or part-time (16.8%), while only 42% report using scooters to commute.
Only half of scooter users drive a car
Scooter riders are much less likely to own a car than the typical Pittsburgh resident. 18% of Spin users report having occasional access to a vehicle, and 33% have no car access.
Trip Purpose Insights:
Scooter rides aren’t just for fun
Only 30% of riders report having ridden a scooter for “recreation”, and only 12% report this as their sole reason for using scooters. Even then, about 73% of recreational users report riding “rarely”. The other most popular uses for scooters are commuting (48%) and meeting friends or family (44.9%). In fact, those who use scooters for commuting do so on a daily basis at twice the rate of the average scooter user. Dining out/shopping (23%) and essential errands (19%) are other common purposes for scooter trips.
Rates of scooters connecting to transit are on an upward trend
Each of the three surveys asked whether the rider uses scooters to connect to a bus or train. This question gains valuable insight into whether scooters are used as a “first and last mile” tool when riders use scooters on the first and last mile of their commute. Such tools which provide door-to-door service help to make transit easier to utilize, potentially expanding the area that the transit system can serve. Many, public transit agencies, including PRT, have called for improved first and last mile tools to help draw commuters to transit.
When this question was asked over a year ago, only 15% responded that they had connected to transit on multiple occasions. In just one year, that number has nearly doubled to 29%. Meanwhile, the number of riders who answered that they were unwilling to do so has gradually decreased. Although the total amount of transit connecting trips is uncertain, this hints at an encouraging trend; Pittsburghers are more and more likely to use scooters in combination with other modes.
Surveys show a gradual increase in use of scooters as a first/last mile tool.
Mode replacement: A key sustainability metric
Each scooter survey has asked what mode the rider would’ve taken if scooters weren’t an option. This is a critical question when considering the impact of the new mode and its potential to take cars off the road. If scooters commonly replace car trips, then this would amount to a vast reduction in congestion and greenhouse gases. If scooters are only replacing more sustainable modes such as transit, bicycling, or walking; then scooters have the potential to increase transportation emissions.
In a recent survey, total car replacement rates reached 33%, while rates for walking, transit, and biking were 40%, 16%, and 11%, respectively. Although these modes are cumulatively replaced by a two-to-one factor compared to cars, this does not necessarily result in a net increase in total emissions. Even when considering factors such as carbon-emitting energy sources and emissions from Spin’s operations teams, electric scooters emit a much smaller amount of CO2 compared to ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles.
It’s important to remember that scooters are just one tool in a toolbox of on-demand modes that can be linked together to replicate the convenience of car ownership, without the financial burden of owning and maintaining a car. This “multimodal” lifestyle becomes more viable with the introduction of services like scooters or carsharing which conveniently fill necessary gaps between public transit, biking, and walking.
The survey data shows encouraging results here, as riders who replaced car trips are twice as likely to scoot on a daily basis compared to riders who replaced walking trips. However, this survey data only gives a limited snapshot of riders’ mode-shift behavior, warranting additional study and evaluation.
Other Take-aways:
Scooters aren’t usually riders’ first choice
When asked about their primary mode choice for essential trips, Spin riders ranked scooters in fourth place. With just 9% of respondents choosing scooters as their primary mode, they rank behind private vehicles (47%), public transit (20%), and walking (13%). When asked about their second most common mode of choice, Spin was still ranked fourth at 13%.
Scooters are also used less frequently than other modes. Only 6% of riders report using them on a daily basis, compared to public transit (23%), and a private vehicle (31%). Although 19% of riders report using the service on a weekly basis, Spin users most commonly report using the scooters “rarely” (29%). This data begins to paint a picture that scooters are not an optimal choice for every use case, but instead serve a useful purpose about once a week along with numerous other beneficial modes such as transit, walking, and biking.
The Graph shows the survey respondents’ first and second most common mode choices for essential trips.
Frequent scooter riders are also big transit riders
Survey respondents who ride daily are over twice as likely to also ride transit on a daily basis. With frequent Spin riders using transit regularly (48% report using transit daily and 18% weekly), this shows that even hardcore scooter users continue to support transit at rates exceeding the city average, and are generally more likely to lead a multimodal lifestyle.
Spin’s BIPOC riders scoot more frequently and connect to transit
When compared to riders who identify as Caucasian, scooter users who identify as Black or African American are about 33% more likely to ride scooters on a daily basis and use scooters to connect to transit. It’s understandable why this population may depend more on scooters and transit, as Black car-ownership rates reported in this survey are significantly lower than average, measuring at just 22%.
Multimodality on the rise
According to a recent survey, scooter users report taking more multimodal trips since beginning to use scooters. Users have reported increased utilization in public transit (17%), walking (14%), biking (7%), and use of other shared transportation such as ride-sourcing, carsharing, bikeshare, etc. (12%). Only 6% of users report an increase in driving, while 43% report no significant change. Although this shows some encouraging results, more surveying is necessary to understand the extent of this modeshift, including combinations of changing preferences across modes.
Conclusion:
Generally speaking, this data begins to show scooters as a helpful mobility tool that can ease riders away from short car trips. Although these results give city leaders a much better sense of who uses scooters and why, there is much more that still merits investigation about the new service. For one, this survey only reflects the opinions of those who ride the scooters and excludes everyone else in the city who interacts with the vehicles and their riders. Move PGH has a responsibility to study elements like the system’s overall safety and rider compliance, which could dramatically impact the long-term viability of this option if left unchecked. And furthermore, additional targeted research is warranted to quantify whether these two-wheeled vehicles truly pose a net benefit to the public. Prior to the conclusion of the scooter pilot, Move PGH will continue to conduct a thorough and independent analysis to further comprehend all of these factors in order to continue providing a functional and sustainable transportation ecosystem for all Pittsburghers.
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