RELEASE: NUMO Alliance Launches New Micromobility Data Website for Cities to Support Policy Goals

‘Micromobility & Your City’ Helps Cities Build Equitable, Sustainable & Safe Communities through Mobility Data-Driven Policies

Washington, D.C. (August 5, 2020) — NUMO, the New Urban Mobility alliance, has launched Micromobility & Your City: Leveraging Data to Achieve Policy Outcomes, a mobility data tool for cities to evaluate micromobility services against policy goals that foster safe, sustainable and equitable communities for all.

Despite being relatively new, micromobility services and modes are fundamentally influencing how we travel and shifting our built environments. In just over two years, shared micromobility services are operating in over 630 cities in 55 countries. What remains to be seen is how micromobility services are reshaping communities, which often experience the disruptions of new modes and technology without the benefits. 

The vast data generated by micromobility services can help cities better understand how their communities, public spaces and existing transportation landscapes are being impacted by new technologies and services and where there are gaps in needed service. These data can offer rich insights into how micromobility services are helping or hindering equity, sustainability and safety goals.

“As of right now, most cities only track how shared micromobility services comply with existing regulations, not how they actually contribute to objectives,” said NUMO research lead Sebastian Castellanos. “Micromobility & Your City represents a significant shift in how cities and micromobility service operators can work together to address transportation systems and mobility needs holistically and proactively.”

NUMO convened a coalition of over 50 experts from city governments, research organizations, mobility service operators and data aggregation platforms to discuss and reach consensus on how to use micromobility data to achieve city goals. The discussions were complemented by a survey of 16 local regulations governing micromobility services and evaluations of 7 pilot programs in Canada, Mexico and the United States to gather the underlying data and use cases comprising Micromobility & Your City.

The platform provides a starting point for cities as they begin to address how micromobility services function within transportation systems, how those systems currently serve communities and how to articulate long-term outcomes and craft data-driven policies around those goals. 

“There is clearly an interaction between cities — their urban form and street networks, the quality and reach of transit, the mix of uses in neighborhoods — and the utility of micromobility offerings in those cities. This platform can help cities, transit agencies and micromobility operators work together more effectively to meet their mutual goals of increasing affordable, safe, reliable, convenient access while lowering carbon and pollution,” said NUMO director Harriet Tregoning.

Learn more about Micromobility & Your City: Leveraging Mobility Data to Achieve Policy Goals at policydata.numo.global. Please direct all media inquiries to Madlyn McAuliffe at madlyn@numo.global. 

About NUMO
NUMO is a global alliance that channels tech-based disruptions in urban transport to create joyful cities where sustainable and just mobility is the new normal. Founded in 2019 as an outgrowth of the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities, NUMO convenes diverse allies and leverages the momentum of significant revolutions in mobility to target urban issues — including equity, sustainability, accessibility and labor — impacted by the shifting transportation landscape. NUMO is hosted by WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. For more information, visit www.numo.global

Header image: Benedicto de Jesus / Flickr