Scooter ridership booming amid high gas prices

SEATTLE — More commuters are turning to non-traditional ways of getting around town than ever before.

Transportation robotics company Superpedestrian said they have seen a boom in scooter ridership compared to March 2021.

A recent survey asked 2,000 people what they believed was responsible for the increase. The majority said the top reason was high gas prices.

“Looking at March of 2022, we saw a 360% increase in rides from March of 2021. And that, coupled with the rider survey that we did in the last week, that shows 50% of our respondents said they’d hop on a scooter due to high gas prices. You know, we believe our riders,” said Jamie Perkins, director of communications for Superpedestrian.

Improving weather and a return to working in person were other factors.

“It’s just convenient for me personally. I use them mostly to commute to and from school and just generally when I’m having fun trying to look at the city. It’s a great way to see the city without having to walk up the big hills,” said rider Xavier Tony.

“The parking is crazy. Mine (costs) $350 a month so I love the transits, the light rail, the scooters. I can’t say anything negative about them,” said rider Jimmy Rodgers.

Superpedestrian saw a 41% ridership increase in e-scooters. Perkins said the company tracked thousands of new riders using their app.

“Each of our scooters, we have the technology to know where they are, what they’re doing at any time and we’re able to see all of those rides, measure them from month-to-month, week-to-week and day-to-day to see what’s going on,” said Perkins.

According to Superpedestrian, the increase in scooter ridership represents a welcome change for many while helping users to get outdoors and leave less of a carbon footprint.

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