Engagement

Chris Cherry (UTK), Geoff Rose (Monash) and John MacArthur (PSU) have chaired and co-chaired the TRB Micromobility Joint Subcommittee since its resurrection in 2009. Originally formed in response to the emergence of the Segway and the many policy questions related to that type of vehicle, the committee went dormant for several years until e-bikes began raising similar questions on safety and access. The recent micromobility growth has increased its scope. The Transportation Research Board is the premier research organization focused on transportation within the National Academies of Science. The joint subcommittee (sponsored bicycle, pedestrian, emerging transit technologies, and law enforcement committees) focuses research on micromobility modes in the transportation system, including all forms of personal and goods-oriented transportation. This subcommittee has sponsored workshops, calls for research papers, and conference sessions at the TRB Annual Meeting, in addition to writing successfully funded research statements on the role of micromobility in the transport system.

Links:
Board
https://sites.google.com/view/anf20/subcommittees/emerging-vehicles-for-low-speed-transportation-joint-subcommittee?authuser=0

The UNEP Global Electric Mobility Program supports more than 50 low- and middle-income countries move toward electrification in their transport sector. It is broken into four thematic working groups. LEVER researcher Cherry (UTK) is a member of the Electric 2- and 3-wheeler working group to support electrification of the most wide-spread form of motorized mobility throughout Asia, Africa and South America. This working group partners with dozens of global organizations to realize electrification of this sector of vehicles through shared and owned two micromobility vehicles throughout the most populous and rapidly motorizing markets in the world. The workgroup will establish a network for global e-mobility advocacy, technology & policy advice focusing on electric 2&3 wheelers and develop knowledge products for capacity building and training through the UNEP support and investment platforms.

Link:
Project

LEVER researcher Cherry (UTK) served on Bird’s Global Safety Advisory Board from March 2019-March 2020 as Bird scooter company ramped up deployments throughout North America and beyond. One of the primary criticisms of scooter deployments were real and perceived safety challenges with integrating scooters into urban infrastructure. Through work on the safety advisory board, Dr. Cherry, along with Bird safety policy staff and other board members convened multiple safety roundtables around the country and engaged dozens of stakeholders to ultimately recommend approaches to safety policy that cities, riders, and operators can take. Four recommendations included 1) accelerating rollout of improved infrastructure, 2) improve driver and rider education, 3) advance vehicle design and technology, and 4) protect the rights of pedestrians. Many of the safety innovations that scooter operators deploy today were based on recommendations from the work of the Bird safety board.

Link:
Project

The OECD’s International Transport Forum (ITF) convened a group of experts in 2019 to contribute to a report on Safe Micromobility. In 2019, micromobility and especially shared scooter systems were rapidly expanding throughout the world. The ITF published the first of its kind comprehensive report on safety based on available data at the time. LEVER researcher Cherry (UTK) contributed to that workshop and presented on safety research he and his team had done at that point. The report produced ten recommendations to improve safety of micromobility systems, particularly shared systems. Most notably, the report focused on transportation system safety, which also includes countermeasures like reducing impaired car driving to improve micromobility safety. Other important contributions of this work identified ways to improve safety by providing incentives to improve behavior of riders, operators, and drivers.

Link:
https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/safe-micromobility_1.pdf