Gordon Chaffin: Shared electric mopeds are addicting climate-change fighters

I’ve been addicted to Revel‘s shared electric scooters almost since the operator debuted in DC last autumn. My experiences with the micromobility vehicles and my work as a local transportation journalist have demonstrated to me the power of small, shared electric vehicles. 

Revel’s fleet — sometimes called motor scooters or mopeds — offers a means to actually reduce car trips, potentially yielding a higher percentage of journeys fueled by electrons instead of gasoline. Piloting the seated mopeds is comparatively easy, and Revel’s fleet features plum cushions, so trips in excess of 5 miles don’t faze your rear end. In contrast, the standing electric scooters ubiquitous in the District work for only the most physically able and confident urban dwellers able to afford housing close to work. The few able to ride them don’t have a comfortable trip because of our local infrastructure, either. Successful use of standing scooters requires balance and coordination, and slight imperfections in the roads and sidewalks turn rides from comfortable to bumpy misery. 

The District began its first shared “motor-driven cycle” (or moped) pilot program in August. Revel is the first and only company participating so far. The company chose DC as the second city for its scooter-sharing service after debuting in New York City but now also operates in Miami; Austin, Texas; and Oakland, California. In January, the District Department of Transportation expanded its cap on the moped fleet from 400 to 600 vehicles, and extended the pilot phase through September. 

I’m an experienced road cyclist and an avid user of DC’s bikeshare system, but shared electric mopeds can serve many more users and work effectively in more circumstances. Electric mopeds are stable, heavy and fast enough to keep pace with traffic on major thoroughfares in metro areas, like Connecticut Avenue NW. Electric mopeds feel safer than bicycles in mixed traffic, though the data are so far inconclusive. 

It may seem counterintuitive for greater speed and weight to be associated with safer operations, but seat- and floor-mounted batteries mean a lower center of gravity. For novice and inexperienced riders, traveling 25 mph on a moped in a car lane feels safer than pedaling a bicycle 15 mph in a bike lane next to those same cars where paint or flimsy plastic barriers are all that’s there to protect you.

Revel moped riders have helmet access from the top box once they’ve unlocked the vehicle to begin their ride. The helmets come in two sizes with an adjustable chin strap, accommodating multiple head shapes and a passenger. The helmet-sharing arrangement grosses some out initially, but the company cleans helmets several times per week and has upgraded its hygiene practices for coronavirus mitigation. Revel’s DC fleet remains active during this pandemic and provides alternative transportation in areas suffering from bus service cuts.

Revel’s helmet setup solves a huge problem with shared, standing scooters: A very small percentage of riders use helmets despite the significant safety issues that raises. A 2019 report on micromobility best practices by the International Transport Forum, a 60-country think tank, found that helmet use by standing e-scooter riders is rare, and averaged 4% across a few small studies conducted in the U.S. and New Zealand. 

The report later suggests making helmet use mandatory for faster, shared vehicles like mopeds, but not compulsory for lower-speed standing scooters. “Shared micromobility companies should nonetheless continue promoting  the use of helmets, as helmets are known to mitigate the severity of head injuries in some crash types,” the International Transport Forum researchers wrote. 

Strong brakes, turn indicators and high-beam lights increase safety for Revel riders and nearby road users. (Note, however, that DC permits the high-beams in limited situations.)

Shared, electric mopeds serve an important environmental benefit. Their greater capabilities mean that more people may be willing to forego cars for trips where the shared, standing scooters prove unappealing. This increased value is partly about distance. Mopeds work well for 3- to 10-mile trips, while standing scooter trips tend to exhaust riders’ knees and elbows after 1 to 2 miles. A first-time moped rider can more easily gain confidence and command of handling after five to 10 minutes, and the underlying vehicle is more stable. 

Infrastructure quality is a critical variable for the value and appeal of shared transportation tools. In America, the push for paved roads was first driven by the need for flat, firm paths for bikes — a popular mode of travel and sport in the late 1800s. However, by the early 1900s, automobile users had won legal rights to the road over bikes. Engineers began to widen and upgrade streets to handle a larger volume of faster cars. That auto-focused mindset dominated through the 20th century and results today in a “dangerous by design” problem.

Infrastructure changes that would make city biking safer could take decades. In contrast, Revel and its competitors provide vehicles that don’t require generational investment in plentiful, protected bike lanes or societal shifts to accept reallocations of public space from car parking to scooter, moped and bike parking corrals. Roads are safer when they facilitate the use of slower modes of travel in smaller vehicles like bicycles. To that end, policymakers make a street safer by getting more car drivers and passengers into mopeds and bikes.

Additionally, Revel’s fleet yields large benefits in terms of air and noise pollution. Shared electric mopeds provide clean, green transportation to many people who can’t or don’t want to purchase their own electric cars, bikes or scooters. Instead of noisy scooters with a 50 cubic centimeter engine that burns gas and generates a loud putt-putt cacophony in DC streets, Revel’s 50cc equivalents are nearly silent. Small vehicles like the 50 cc mopeds enable urban travel flexibility, but they still burn gas. Electric mopeds don’t pump out particulates degrading air quality critical to public health in DC neighborhoods. 

Electric moped sharing schemes aren’t without problems. In DC, gas-powered transit vans shuttle around all day swapping various mopeds’ low batteries with fully charged counterparts. At a central facility, Revel charges a mountain of batteries by using grid energy with lots of dirty sources. But, for traffic congestion and other negative effects of car dependence, my reporting points to shared electric mopeds as a powerful positive force. More American cities should try this out and DC should expand its program, eliminating Revel’s fleet size limit and inviting applications from other operators.

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Gordon Chaffin is a reporter for Street Justice, a news organization covering transportation, energy, and infrastructure throughout the Washington area. Street Justice produces a free, weekly digest on Sundays covering national trends. Weekday reports include a reported story, a calendar of civic meetings, and a list of projects open for public comment. To submit a pledge for a subscription, click here.