They showed up overnight — from a variety of service providers — and now they’re practically everywhere. They’re eScooters. And you’ve no doubt seen them either parked or being ridden. Heck, you’ve probably even ridden them. But how are they being received? Portland Bureau of Transportation recently surveyed riders as part of the pilot. And now PBOT has released the results of that survey.
In the first major step of evaluating Portland’s e-scooter pilot program, PBOT surveyed nearly 75,000 customers of Bird, Lime and Skip, the three companies permitted to operate e-scooters in Portland. The wide-ranging survey asked customers about their riding habits, their perceptions of scooter safety and popularity and whether they replaced car trips with scooter rides. More than 4,500 people responded, and the results suggest scooters are a popular new transit option for Portlanders and visitors alike.
Among the findings? One of the primary themes is fewer cars on the road. eScooters are replacing car trips among local residents. And those numbers are even higher for tourists and other visitors, where 34% opted to take an eScooter instead of a taxi, Uber, or Lyft. According to the survey, eScooters even have some Portland residents rethinking auto ownership, all together.
For more findings or to download the survey results, visit PBOT eScooter survey results.
