Shared Mobility

Shared mobility is changing the perceptions of transportation worldwide, spawning new business models and influencing individual transportation choices and behavior. These changes are dynamic and evolving. We can expect innovations in shared mobility to continue to shape and change options for years to come. As with all new disruptive technologies and business models, there are challenges to shared mobility’s expansion and scaling.

This chapter explores these challenges, along with success stories, lessons learned, and proposed solutions.

Some of the prominent shared mobility challenges discussed in this chapter include:

1. Recognizing the need for consistent public and private sector standards and definitions across a suite of shared mobility service models that guide public policy and distinguish between types of services for users

2. Developing metrics, modeling, planning platforms, and methodologies to measure the economic and travel impact of shared mobility such as VMT/VKT, person miles traveled, commute travel time, etc., such that local, state, and federal public agencies can incorporate it as an integral component of land use and transportation planning

3. Recognizing shared mobility as a key component of transportation policy and planning

4. Encouraging multimodal integration

5. Addressing potential accessibility issues as the systems expand and evolve to be inclusive of all segments of society

6. Understanding insurance issues pertaining to regulation, availability, and affordability across a wide array of existing and emerging shared business and service models

7. Balancing data sharing (open data) and privacy for individual users and companies providing the services.

Types of sharing mobility services

Understanding the Current Bikeshare Landscape

Legal definitions of different shared mobility services are essential for mainstreaming such services.

https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop16022/ch5.htm

http://innovativemobility.org/?project=shared-mobility-definitions-industry-developments-and-early-understanding

https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/bike-program/bike-share

https://medium.com/@ODSC/big-data-and-mobility-analytics-be5c7a662eaa