Equipping Active Travel Advocates with Digital Mobility Data and Tools: An Evaluation of a US Trial Program

Abstract

Shared micromobility services offering electric bikes and scooters on demand are complementing walking, biking, and transit to expand the role of active mobility in urban transportation. However, on-demand services are often introduced at a faster pace than streets are updated to protect the safety of users. The lack of safe street infrastructure limits the potential mode shifts and other benefits micromobility could introduce. Safe streets advocacy groups can make a critical difference, but they generally lack access to data resources. In 2020, Spin and Ford Motor Company launched an initiative called Mobility Data for Safer Streets (MDSS), equipping six safe streets advocacy organizations in five US cities with a suite of mobility data tools(physical data collection tools and mobility data platforms)to support their efforts to make streets safer for micromobility. Each MDSS awardee deployed the tools in support of at least one specific street redesign project over the course of the project term, e.g., highlight the need for a project based on an understanding of multimodal traffic in a neighborhood, gather critical data to make the case to a city department, or monitor the success of an existing project to ensure the city remains committed. This evaluation study reports findings from interviews with each group throughout the 15-month program. Results revealed four general use cases advocate-awardees demonstrated in their projects with the mobility data tools: (1) improving their effectiveness in collaborating with local government, (2) garnering support from community members, (3) framing micromobility advocacy efforts as safer streets for all users, and (4) supporting underserved communities. The MDSS initiative armed advocates with mobility data and tools to enable them to more effectively "speak the language" of local governments and participate in the conversation at a more equal level with practitioners. Access to mobility data empowered advocates to assess, and sometimes challenge, local governments' assumptions and analyses, which helped strengthen decision-making and provide better outcomes for all stakeholders. Advocates leveraged mobility data to demonstrate evidence of network gaps, unsafe conditions for active travel, and disparities in low-income and minority neighborhoods. All six safe streets advocacy groups that participated in the MDSS program reported that access to mobility data made them more effective. The MDSS model — granting data resources to advocates — can be replicated in other mobility contexts and with other industries entirely. Particularly when progressive change can be difficult to achieve politically, this collaborative, data-based model of influencing decision-making can invite new participants into the conversation and empower those participants with the technical resources to advance collective understanding. While decision-makers are often inundated with assessments and perspectives, a program like MDSS empowers the advocates to tell a clearer story.