Study: How Low-Income People Really Use Micromobility

Low-income people are using shared micromobility a lot like they use public transit, a new study finds — and researchers think cities should thoroughly embrace (and subsidize) the mode as part of the larger ecosystem of buses and trains.

Participants in the Lime Access program, which grants discounts of around "70 or 80 percent" to riders who qualify, were significantly more likely to list essential reasons like "shopping" for groceries (35 percent) and "commuting" (31 percent) than non-Access riders, 11 and 21 percent of whom rode to complete errands or go to work, respectively.

The discount recipients were also highly unlikely to go use bikes and scooters for non-essential reasons like social outings (12 percent), "joy-riding" (9 percent) or exploring (2 percent), quashing the stereotype that all micromobility trips are spontaneously generated. And a whopping 44 percent of their trips connected to a traditional transit ride, compared to just 23 percent of people who paid full price.