The aim is to allow urban authorities which work with dockless mobility providers to share and analyse trip data, including trip origins and destinations, neighbourhood availability, travel times and usage.
This should give them the chance to allocate street space to sustainable transportation, improve safety and provide more equal access to transport services.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and SharedStreets made the announcement, and will be using scooter data provided by Bird and Lime.
SharedStreets will lead the work to establish what it calls “an open-source data ecosystem that allows cities and companies to work from consistent transportation datasets while rigorously protecting personal privacy”.
“In just one year, scooters have completely transformed mobility,” says Duggan. “In Detroit, we took a forward-looking view on this new option to understand how it could make it easier for Detroiters to get around. Our next step is to use data to better inform our decisions, whether it’s providing more mobility options in more neighbourhoods or making sure scooters aren’t blocking the right of way.’”
“Our cities are open to new forms of transportation, but the public sector needs the data on how the public gets around,” said Seleta Reynolds, president of NACTO.