What would Arity say? Our take on current news

There has been a scooter invasion! All over the US, we are seeing scooters popping up left and right and in turn cities are looking to regulate this demand for quick and cheap ways to get around. We turned to our sharing economy expert, Rachel Allen, to get her take on this trend.

One of the long-time challenges for transportation, especially in major cities, has been the ‘last mile’ component of the ride/journey, do you think scooters are part of the solution? 

Sure, I think that scooters are a perfect low cost and efficient solution for this, weather permitting their use. Then there’s the considerations of scooters being readily available at the right pick up points. Additionally, the infrastructure must be in place to effectively orchestrate safe point to point travel, and most importantly the city would need to support the scooting from a regulation perspective. So… while conceptually the concept of the scooter is perfect for the last mile, it will only work in natural and man made conditions that support them.

What are some of the risks related to ‘ScooterCos’?

There are a few things to consider, which are very similar to any sort of risks related to transportation. First, there’s the risk of the person using the scooter. Is a Scootee (I made that word up…) properly trained to use the scooter? Do they know the rules of the road? Second there are the risks that the company assumes when renting the asset. Who is responsible if the Scootee crashes? What if they hurt someone else? What if they damage another thing?\

What can ScooLime, Bird and other emergent scooter providers learn from more established sharing economy companies?  

There are some basic business frameworks that are very important to understand, including how to manage risk, properly balancing supply and demand, and how to prioritize inventory to protect assets. On the other hand, there will be nuances and business rules unique to ScooterCos. They may have higher thresholds for prioritizing assets to riskier clients, aka Scootees, because, unlike resale value for carshare companies, their target is to reconstruct assets and resell parts.