Skip to main content

Voting on 3 November? Get on a scooter

Roll to the Polls campaign encourages participation in US presidential election
By Ben Spencer October 9, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Bird is among micromobility firms to join voting campaign (© Arne Beruldsen | Dreamstime.com)

The North American Bikeshare Association (Nabsa) is launching Roll to the Polls, an industry-wide campaign offering free or reduced-cost transportation to voters on the US election day.

Shared micromobility operators such as Bird, Movatic and PikeRide Colorado Springs will make bikes, scooters and ride-share services available to voters on 3 November. 

Nabsa claims many people who want to vote lack access to reliable transportation, pointing to a study by Pew Research Center in which 3% of Americans cited transportation problems as a barrier to voting in 2016.

According to Nabsa, 3% is representative of 4.6 million registered voters in 2020.

Sam Herr, executive director at Nabsa, says: "Not only does shared micromobility provide riders with the freedom of fun, sustainable transportation but it also plays a vital role in eliminating the transportation barrier that exists for millions of voters."

Nabsa has been encouraging alternative methods of voting in the wake of the coronavirus - such as absentee ballots - but insists many US states do not accept the pandemic as a reason for mail-in ballots. 

Roll to the Polls helps voters plan how to get to the polls in advance and find socially distant modes of transportation, the association adds. 

Other micromobility operators involved in the campaign include Chattanooga Bicycle Transit System, MoGo Detroit, Ride Report and Shift Transit.
 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • World car emissions on the rise, says Kapsch
    April 29, 2021
    Increased dependence on private vehicles reflects people's Covid infection concerns
  • NACTO partners with US cities on transit corridors
    May 20, 2019
    The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) has partnered with five US cities to accelerate the implementation of high-quality bike and transit corridors by 2020. This work is expected to help the cities of Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis and Philadelphia meet or beat their near-term carbon reduction goals. Corinne Kisner, executive director of NACTO, says: “By dedicating more space for high-quality bike and transit lanes, cities can increase access to low-carbon transportatio
  • Making ITS connections requires leadership
    January 23, 2020
    From making the commute more bearable to saving the planet, Jim Alfred of BlackBerry Certicom believes that ITS has the capacity to drive a range of transformational opportunities – but leadership is required, he warns
  • APTA calls for $23.8bn from Congress
    May 20, 2020
    Money is needed for public transit – on top of $25bn 'lifesaver' already pledged