Spin, the San Francisco-based electrical bicycle- and scooter-sharing firm, mentioned it’ll make investments as much as $2 million in college analysis on micromobility at Michigan State University and the University of Utah.
“We want it to be a collaborative process. Our anchors here are the common goals that we share with universities around transportation,” mentioned John Lankford, Spin’s head of campus partnerships. “So we’ve got three buckets that we’ve identified. Reducing those single-occupancy vehicle trips, and instead, use an E-bike or an E-scooter, increased parking compliance and educating our rider base on safety.”
Lankford mentioned inclusion would even be a spotlight of Spin’s analysis.
“The fourth one I would mention is equity. Equity in the sense that the numbers of people who embrace shared mobility skew white and male. And we know the benefits apply to everybody. So trying to understand some of the decision-making and some of the barriers that are in place is sort of the fourth topic for us,” Lankford mentioned.
Researchers anticipate to have their findings within the coming months, Lankford mentioned.
“I think we’re going to have great information at the end of the fall semester,” Lankford mentioned. “Then by December, we should have some good learnings and I think we’ll be starting to write about it come next year.”
Lankford mentioned it helps to work with faculty college students who could care extra about sustainability than different teams.
“What’s most exciting about the research in the university space is that we have this opportunity to reach students and give them the opportunity to ultimately use more sustainable transportation. Which I think most of them care a lot about.”
Source: www.autonews.com
