Chicago doesn’t yet have a widespread dockless scooter program like other cities do, but its residents could probably use one, according to a new report from DePaul University researchers.
A program that charges $1.10 per trip plus $1.33 per mile could be a cheaper and easier way to get around the city than driving or using public transportation, potentially reducing the need for car ownership, according to the study. Trips under one mile would be cheaper than bus fare.
The authors, writing with DePaul’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, modeled 1,000 scooters each in three clusters of neighborhoods around the city: one on the South Side, on the West Side and one on the North Side. They found users would have an easier time finding rides than they do with the city’s existing Divvy bike-sharing system, whose stations can empty out during peak hours.
Alternatingly beloved and hated in cities like San Francisco and Washington, D.C., e-scooter programs are now headed to Los Angeles, whose City Council approved a pilot program introducing them in September.
Bird, one of the country’s largest scooter operators, is valued around $2 billion.
Bird has signaled it could expand to Chicago in the spring, and competitor Lime has already tested the market with pilots programs in some neighborhoods. [Block Club] — Alex Nitkin