Report: E-scooters and e-bikes reduce traffic congestion, commuting time

E-scooters and electric bikes have quickly emerged in cities across the United States as an important means of mobility for constituents commuting to work and tourists exploring the downtown area. Prompted by public annoyance and legitimate safety concerns, some cities have moved to curb their usage via outright bans or rental time restrictions.

But a new study published recently by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the scientific journal Nature Energy shows that, while restricting e-scooters and e-bikes is growing in popularity, it comes with an immediate trade-off.

“Decisions that shape our cities can lead to unexpected effects. We have established that when scooters and e-bikes are banned, drivers experience statistically significant increases in traffic congestion as many riders revert back to passenger vehicles for last-mile transit,” reads the report, which analyzed data following a 2019 ban of e-scooter and e-bike rentals in Atlanta’s city center daily from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Researchers noted that effects were greatest in the first few days after the ban, but showed “durability for many subsequent weeks. The persistence of these effects may compound the economic costs of increased traffic congestion, which we estimate can be worth up to $536 million globally.”

As a result of the increased congestion, the study found that Atlanta’s average commuting time in the city center and near transit hubs jumped from 9% to 11%, based on data gleaned from Uber Movement Travel.

The findings are notable for administrators because educating constituents on the ability of e-scooter programs and e-bikes to reduce congestion and, in correlation, cut down on travel time, might sway public sentiment away from micromobility bans. It could also prove to be an effective argument when leveraged by advocates to convince investment in related infrastructure investments, which is a necessary next step, the study says.

“To accelerate the adoption of micromobility and achieve its associated sustainability benefits, we argue that cities will need to make additional investments in both physical and digital infrastructure. For physical infrastructure, land use and space allocation will require longer-term planning such as converting lanes usually reserved for cars into bike lanes that can be used for micromobility,” the report says.

Prior to the study, research on the impact of micro mobility (e-scooters and e-bikes) had been mostly theoretical, relying small data sets and with mixed findings. Some analyses concluded micromobility can dramatically reduce car trips, while others found that e-scooters are more often substituted for public transit and walking rather than personal vehicles.

The Georgia Institute of Technology study is the first of its kind to analyize the impact of e-scooter and e-bike bans in a real world setting, Omar Asensio, the report’s co-author and a public policy professor and director of Georgia Tech’s Data Science and Policy Lab told Smart Cities Dive.

Looking to the future, researchers project continued adoption of e-scooters and e-bikes, and as a result, cities will have to adopt comprehensive policies.

“If further micromobility adoption happens at the expense of ‘pollutingʼ modes like private vehicles or other car-based travel, then these investments become even more critical for urban sustainability and will carry larger policy implications,” the report says. “With its potential to displace cars for personal travel and drive short-run emissions reductions, micromobility is poised to continue its strong growth as an urban mobility solution.”