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Portlanders are falling in love with the new scooters. We can prove it with science.
Data sets obtained by WW show Rip City has embraced scooters in the past three weeks with increasing enthusiasm.
To gain entry into Portland for four months, scooter startups offered something valuable in return: data, lots of it, and fast. The city's pilot program requires scooter companies to share numbers—like how many rides people are taking, how far they're riding, and where they go.
That data, provided to WW by the Portland Bureau of Transportation, reveals two key facts about how the new technology is being used in Portland.
The scooters are getting more popular each week they're on the streets.
A day-by-day breakdown of ridership numbers shows more people rode scooters in the third week of the program than in the first two weeks combined. Ridership spikes upward each weekend—but it doesn't drop back down on the following Monday.
(Numbers indicate rides per day)
The standard scooter trip is well over a mile.
A measurement of trips taken from July 25 to Aug. 19 shows most riders ride for at least a half-mile—but usually stop soon after they've traveled 2 miles. Those short trips are catnip for urban planners, who see them as the missing link connecting people to public transit lines.
Most of the complaints received by City Hall are about cluttering up the sidewalk.
Total complaints in the first nine days of the program (July 26-Aug. 3): 124
Complaints about Lime: 36
Complaints about Bird: 30
Complaints about Skip: 1
Complaints about riders on the sidewalk: 24
Complaints about riders not wearing helmets: 25
Complaints about riders on the sidewalk not wearing helmets: 35
Complaints about scooters blocking public rights of way: 11
General complaints: 29
Source: PBOT
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