Not everyone lives close to their work or within the walking distance of public transportation. So, people have to drive. And, as you probably know, it creates a ton of problems like traffic jams, lack of parking and, of course, pollution. Click here to learn more about pollution.
A solution can be to add more stops and more routes – but how efficient is that? City officials know that it’s not always possible and that it doesn’t solve other problems. For example, there would be even more traffic jams, and gas emissions wouldn’t decrease.
This is where micro-mobility solutions work best. Of course, the industry still has to grow and mature before it can be effective, but it does make a difference. It also gives city officials some time to work out the best ways to implement these processes.
Why Public Transportation Doesn’t Work
As mentioned, mass transportation doesn’t work well because it doesn’t provide solutions for all of the problems. Emissions increase and traffic jams rise too.
For example, Houston is one of the most congested cities, including its suburban areas. There’s a big issue with parking. Of course, there’s bus transportation, but they also need to reach the bus stop.
As a bonus, more public transportation possibilities also increase the prices of homes in urban areas and this means that people who can’t afford the increase would have to move even further away. Here’s a study looking into the future of public transportation.
Basics of micro-mobility
Micro-mobility basically includes vehicles that a person can own that can take on to two passengers. Bikes would be a common example but this also involves smaller electric-powered cars, electric scooters, bikes, etc. In essence, the vehicles are powered by electricity and they don’t create any pollution.
They also don’t take up a lot of space and don’t create a traffic jam.
In bigger cities, people wouldn’t have to really buy these as companies can come up with vehicle sharing facilities where you could rent your scooter or bike. There are apps that can take you to the vehicle and allow you to pay the fee and unlock the vehicle.
Of course, these systems have to be planned, but it’s not such a complicated process either.
How cities can apply this system
Mass transportation usually includes buses or trains. These all have their set routes and set stops which can still put people a few minutes of walking to their job. They can transport a lot of people at the same time but their reach is limited. Stations are not always accessible to everyone. And adding more stops is not viable.
Most commuters that can afford to drive, choose to go to work with their car simply because it’s more convenient for them. Their car takes them directly to their workplace and directly to their home. Vehicle sharing companies like http://www.electricridenow.com find that commuters like the chance to get a simple vehicle for an affordable price for short trips.
Conditions that can make micro-mobility mainstream
Some obstacles that cities have in this respect are hard to understand. They want to offer more alternatives to commuters – no one likes traffic jams or pollution – but they are constantly facing issues.
Let’s take bikes as an example. Why don’t people take bikes to work or for short trips?
Well, most cities don’t have accessible bike lanes and people on bikes driving on the street or on sidewalks are a danger to drivers and pedestrians too. They can be a hazard even for other drivers.
Another problem is where to leave your bikes when you arrive.
For the solutions to work properly, there have to be bike-sharing services and bike lanes. But this has to happen as a result of cooperation between businesses and city planners.
Filling the gaps
Of course, a personal car is too much for a short trip. A bike doesn’t suit everyone either. So, an electric scooter does more work than that. It fills more gaps in the market. It’s a more complex solution and it generates other problems.
Large companies allow customers to get a vehicle through their app. They can unlock it, pay for it and prove their identity. The payment is per mile and you can leave the vehicles wherever you want. In cases where this was applied have had a great time attracting customers. At the same time, cities and detractors have not been as happy about it.
This system harmed the residents because the safety of pedestrians was in danger as people drove carelessly and the law was broken. The drivers would also leave these vehicles wherever they felt like.
On the other side of the conversation, supporters of this system claim that having the scooters around decreased the congestion and made driving a lot safer. And companies behind these scooters have pledged a portion of their earnings to the cities they serve in as funds to build more lanes for their vehicles.
European cities have also been up to try this new system to mitigate gas pollution and traffic jams. Of course, there are plenty of cities in Europe where people already use more bikes than cars.
However, an environment agency chose UK and Germany, along with some other countries, to watch over the standards and violations of implementing this.
Many cities have done their best in order to avoid fines, but there are also cities that did an excellent job, like Karlsruhe which became a bike capital in 2014 and it continues to improve.
They gave their citizens more accessibility to trains and created an electric system that can be considered a micro-train. They are also testing more different systems to implement in the future.
How these vehicles help
Micro-mobility solutions can help allow people who don’t have such easy access to public transportation easier means to go to work or have short trips. They also may make mass transportation vehicles more attractive to people. Traffic jams can decrease, parking and other problems too.
Some cities do have problems simply because people have issues remembering or learning the proper etiquette with these new vehicles. This area needs more coordination and companies need to work together.
Article Submitted By Community Writer