Despite Consolidation, E-Scooters May Thrive

According to Clean Energy Trust, the micromobility market (bikeshare and e-scooters) has strong underlying fundamentals that may emerge even stronger due to the pandemic.  For instance, pre-Covid, scooters were often used as links between different public transit options. Recent evidence shows there has been an uptick in riders using scooters for their entire journey.  And, bicycle usage overall has grown during the pandemic as transit usage has been curtailed and people are looking for outdoor recreational options.

Meanwhile, Lime bought Uber’s bikeshare company Jump. Uber found that Jump was not a good fit with their business model, so this move allows Uber to shed its scooter operations (they still have a minority share). Some speculate that Lyft could follow Uber and divest as well (they recently shrunk their scooter operations). However, Lyft also owns Motivate, the company that operates Capital Bikeshare and accounts for 80% of the bikeshare trips in the U.S.  Insiders expect a bit more consolidation to come but view that Bird and Lime are the best positioned to persevere. In Alexandria, the City's dockless mobility program continues to operate. Spin, Bird, and Razor devices are available to the community, while Lime has paused its service in the City.