Global electric scooter companies expected to compete for New York market

A man wearing a facial mask moves with a scooter on Times Square in New York City, the United States, March 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Last year, e-scooters leapfrogged above bike share to become the most popular form of micro-mobility shared rides in the United States, with 86 million of the country's 136 million trips.

NEW YORK, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Electric-scooter companies from around the world are expected to compete for the chance to operate in New York City, one of the most sought-after micro-mobility markets, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, adding that the city has invited companies to apply for spots in an e-scooter pilot program expected to launch in March.

People take electric scooters on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the United States, July 19, 2020.(Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The 15-page request provided few details about how many companies would be chosen, where they would be allowed to operate or how many scooters would be deployed. But competition is expected to be fierce in a market that has grown rapidly in just a few years.

Companies of all sizes, some from overseas, said they intend to apply. They included established U.S. firms Bird and Lime, two leading European companies, Voi and TIER, and Superpedestrian, an up-and-coming micro-mobility company founded out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the paper.

A man wearing a face mask rides a scooter near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., the United States, July 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

New York City is seen as a prize because it has such a high concentration of short-distance trips that might be considered too far too walk but too short for mass transit, Alex Engel, a spokesman for the National Association of City Transportation Officials (Nacto), a coalition of North American transportation departments, was quoted as saying.

Last year, e-scooters leapfrogged above bike share to become the most popular form of micro-mobility shared rides in the United States, with 86 million of the country's 136 million trips, according to Nacto data. ■