Source: Lime

From studying 5 million Lime trips in Baltimore, Nashville and Phoenix, the LEVA-EU member has published recommendations on building better and safer streets. It published the 2nd edition of its annual mobility report in collaboration with the League of American Bicyclists, with findings encouraging the implementation of bike lanes and safer infrastructure.

After using shared micromobility data to research how people travel, Lime states that US cities are in a new era of sustainable transportation which requires safer and more connected streets. The shared mobility company says its study supports global findings, implying that more people choose micromobility when there are dedicated cycling lanes with thoughtfully designed safe infrastructure.

Results from the mobility report presents the following takeaways:

Riders prefer dedicated cycling lanes

• In Baltimore, newly installed cycling lanes have been associated with increasing 20% of Lime trips, when compared to streets without them.
• In Nashville, streets equipped with cycling lanes saw trips grow faster by 39% than similar streets without bike cycling infrastructure.
• In Phoenix, protected lanes experienced a 35% increase in ridership in comparison to without the dedicated infrastructure.

Infrastructure encourages safety

• For all cities studied, streets with dedicated cycling infrastructure had lower incident rates consistently, than those without them.

Transit and connectivity are expanded by micromobility

• Lime effectively doubled the transit walkshed from 0.8 km by walking alone to 1.77–2.09 km, increasing access to high-quality transit and providing connections for riders’ daily commutes.

Bill Nesper, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists shared the following about the report:

“Like last year’s findings, the insights in this report help to demonstrate exactly why communities must continue to make these investments: we can see very clearly that building better infrastructure, and establishing policies to support that infrastructure, has real-world results in helping more people to safely make trips on two wheels.”

Study implications for US cities

For reducing congestion, improving safety and expanding equitable transportation options, it advises the following:

• Investing in dedicated cycling lanes to encourage more ridership, encouraging quick rider responses.
• Prioritising safety: Creating dedicated cycling infrastructure for bikes and micromobility helps to reduce incident rate by encouraging rider confidence.
• Boosting transit access: Micromobility completes significant “first mile/last mile” gaps, supporting people to move more freely.
• Using data for guiding investment: Facilitating micromobility expertise and analytics to pinpoint new lanes and parking solutions which can deliver the most effective impact.

Lime’s and the League of American Bicyclists’ latest study shows how micromobility and cycling infrastructure can reduce traffic volumes and decrease the time and economic value that’s regularly lost to congestion.

Brandon Haydu, Lime’s Senior Program Manager, Transportation Policy & Analytics stated the following about the findings:

“Lime’s data provides cities with a powerful tool to strengthen transportation planning and Vision Zero efforts beyond what is possible using traditional bicycle trip counts. Our partnership with the League of American Bicyclists shows that when cities build dedicated bike lanes, ridership grows, safety improves, and riders from across the city benefit. We’re happy to collaborate with the cities we serve, sharing detailed, standardized data and planning support to help build safer, more connected streets for everyone.”

Lime will be sharing its report with transportation leaders, urban planners, policymakers and local advocates to inspire safer, greener and more accessible cities.