Skip to main content

Detroit pilots new data standard for dockless mobility

Several organisations are coming together in Detroit, US, to pilot a new tool to analyse mobility data for dockless bikes and scooters. 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 M
November 16, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Several organisations are coming together in Detroit, US, to pilot a new tool to analyse mobility data for dockless bikes and scooters.


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.

278 Ford Motor Company, 8336 Uber and 8789 Lyft agreed last month to %$Linker: 2 Internal <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 4 36955 0 link-external share data false /categories/utc/news/ford-uber-and-lyft-to-share-data-through-sharedstreets/ false false%> through the SharedStreets platform, saying that such partnerships “give cities unparalleled access to data, allowing them to make better planning and investment decisions”.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Kistler looks for speed camera synergies
    March 21, 2018
    Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) specialist Kistler says its move into speed camera enforcement will help complement its core activities. The firm acquired German company eso, which manufactures portable speed measurement devices, last year, and Tomas Pospisek, Kistler’s global market development manager for road & traffic, says: “We’re hoping this will bring us synergies. We’re monitoring the weight and they’re monitoring the speed. It’s an important step, for sure.” When it comes to WIM, Kistler still maintains ther
  • ASTC to operate e-bus service in India
    June 28, 2019
    The Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) is to deploy 15 electric buses in Guwahati, a city in north-east India. The project is part of the Indian government’s FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) scheme. A report by Business Standard says each bus will carry up to 31 passengers along a 6.4km route between the neighbourhoods of Kachari and Kamakhya. ASTC will operate a second service along a 38km route from the Inter State Bus Terminal while also running another service in
  • Autonomous shuttle passenger injured following sudden stop
    August 6, 2019
    A 76-year-old passenger travelling on an autonomous shuttle has been injured after the vehicle came to an unexpected stop, says KUTV. Gene Petrie, an employee at the Utah State Tax Commission, was thrown from his seat and hit the handrail near the door, resulting in bruising and black eyes. Charlie Roberts, spokesman for the Utah State Tax Commission, is quoted saying: “Out of the clear blue, it suddenly stopped, and it wasn’t a slow-down stop. It was a sudden stop.” Petrie went to the hospital f
  • Tritium opens mobility centres in Australia and Netherlands
    May 10, 2019
    Tritium has opened two R&D electric mobility innovation centres in Australia and the Netherlands. The Tritium e-mobility centre in Brisbane serves as an expansion of the company’s headquarters and will be used to develop disruptive technologies for electric vehicles (EVs). A portion of Electric Power Research Institute's $3.2m package, issued by the US Department of Energy, will be used to develop an extreme fast-charging system which is expected to add 475km of range to an EV in 10 minutes. Last