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Cities around the world are embracing micromobility as a sustainable and fun form of transportation. As e-scooter and bike-share programs emerge, many cities turn to official procurements to ensure they are able to work with the operators and third party providers that fit their unique needs. Writing a formal RFP can be time consuming, but a well-planned RFP will save you time and energy in the long run.

At Ride Report, we’ve helped many cities get their micromobility programs up and running successfully. Whether you’re new to micromobility or are looking for third party services to enhance your already existing program, here are some considerations when working on your next RFP.

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Today, Ride Report, in collaboration with Lime and Bird Canada, released our exciting report showing high e-scooter usage in Edmonton, including frequent travel to downtown and business improvement districts and replacement of car travel.

Transportation should never be a barrier to vote, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. In fact, in 2016, more than 15 million individuals were unable to vote due to a lack of transportation. As election day draws nearer, mobility operators across the US have joined the Roll to the Polls campaign to provide free or discounted rides in an effort to encourage voter turnout. Ride Report commends the participation of our mobility partners and is proud to participate in this initiative as a supporter. 

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Cities around the world are experiencing a micromobility revolution. 

But the more e-scooters and e-bikes that are taken to the streets, the more demand there will be for improved bike lane infrastructure that supports these vehicles — just like with the gas tax. 

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Just over 100 years ago, Oregon became the first state to impose a per-gallon gasoline tax. Many other states introduced gas taxes in the years that followed. 

Read on to find out why it was developed, who benefits, and what we can learn from the tax to meet people’s and cities' transportation needs today, including micromobility.

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What is Mobility Data Specification (MDS)?

MDS is a framework for standardizing and sharing mobility data that agencies and operators can use. It helps operators and cities exchange information in a standard format so they can ingest data and build systems to understand program success. MDS has three sub-specifications: Provider, Agency and Policy.

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In our previous post about MDS feed health and interpretation challenges, we discussed MDS feed health and challenges to interpreting your feed. Now we will take a look at when the data itself is problematic, and some things to consider when troubleshooting. 

We stand with the protestors and activists demanding action and accountability. We recognize that justice is the only possible resolution, and that nothing short of demanding — and enacting — justice will suffice. We believe that black lives matter.

In the first blog post in this series, Introduction to Mobility Data Specification (MDS), we discussed what MDS is and broke down the specification. 

For micromobility programs that are getting set up with MDS or looking to ensure their data aligns with the spec, there are a lot of ways it can diverge; some are more critical than others. They all start with the question: how do you know if your data adheres to MDS?

What is Mobility Data Specification (MDS)?

One of the most important aspects of launching and sustaining a successful micromobility program is being able to make data-informed decisions to achieve a program’s objectives. To create a foundation of trust and to build a common methodology for understanding and utilizing data, cities and operators need a data sharing standard — that’s where MDS comes in.