E-Scooters and Dockless Bikeshare Could Deliver Transit Access to the Underserved

There's no debating the growth of dockless bike and e-scooter companies in the United States. What is hotly debated is whether or not the development is a good thing. "For the uninitiated, these e-scooters and e-bikes can be rented for $1 to start and are not tethered to one location, so they can be moved around to meet or create demand and theoretically be picked up and dropped off anywhere," Johana Bhuiyan writes for Recode.

Much of the media coverage devoted to these transportation innovations has focused on the possible danger of these modes of transit and their use of public spaces, but they also present an opportunity. These modes of transit are often much cheaper than ride hailing services and in some cases even public transit. For communities that are too far from transit, the vehicles can provide a crucial link or replace transit completely. "In lower-income communities, that lack of access can in turn cause a significant obstacle for access to economic opportunity," Bhuiyan writes. This cheap, portable form of transit changes the way people get around.