Regina Clewlow, CEO & Co-Founder, Populus, gave this presentation at Forth's webinar on November 12, 2019

1. THE MICROMOBILITY POLICY PLAYBOOK
FORTH WEBINAR SERIES
Tue, Nov. 12, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am PT
Regina Clewlow
CEO & Co-Founder
Populus
@populus_ai

2. THE ARRIVAL OF E-SCOOTERS WAS A GAME CHANGER
www.populus.ai
Dockless mobility was quickly and easily regulated,
including notably the requirement to share data.
● Cities had learned from prior experiences with private
mobility services.
● The first U.S. cities to experience dockless bikeshare
(Seattle and Washington, D.C.) put in place requirements
for companies to share data as early as July 2017.
● Dockless mobility is easily regulated because vehicles
(typically owned by operators) can be confiscated.
● Scooters seemed to fueled growth faster than dockless
bikes; they also seem more polarizing.

3. THE ROLE OF DATA STANDARDS
www.populus.ai
General Bikeshare Feed
Specification (GBFS)
Adapted from: Clewlow, R. “A Practical Guide To Mobility Data Sharing.” Forbes. August 28, 2019.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/reginaclewlow/2019/08/28/a-practical-guide-to-mobility-data-sharing/#9d8c5d9199c9
Mobility Data
Specification (MDS)
● APIs report the real-time information about
available vehicles.
● GBFS is often required by cities as part of
micromobility regulations.
● GBFS data feeds typically report the vehicle
location, type (bike/scooter), and battery
charge.
● MDS was built for operators to communicate
with cities, and for cities to communicate back.
● Vehicle status changes provide updates on
vehicles’ state in the system.
● Defines formats for sharing trip data, including
“breadcrumb” GPS traces.
Data standards can facilitate a greater diversity of mobility operators, consumer-facing
options, and data analysis alternatives for cities.

4. THREE TYPICAL APPROACHES TO MOBILITY DATA SHARING
www.populus.ai
Aggregated/ Reported
By Mobility Operator
Cities Directly Receives
Raw, Disaggregate Data
Data Delivered Through
A Trusted Third Party
EXAMPLES:
● v1.0 of DDOT’s
dockless permit.
● Most carsharing.
EXAMPLES:
● Populus reporting in 50+
cities incl. Baltimore.
EXAMPLES:
● L.A. Department of
Transportation (LADOT)

5. THREE TYPICAL APPROACHES TO MOBILITY DATA SHARING
www.populus.ai
Aggregated/ Reported
By Mobility Operator
Cities Directly Receives
Raw, Disaggregate Data
Data Delivered Through
A Trusted Third Party
EXAMPLES:
● v1.0 of DDOT’s
dockless permit.
● Most carsharing.
PROS:
● Reporting burden
placed on operator.
● City bears little risk.
EXAMPLES:
● Populus reporting in 50+
cities incl. Baltimore.
PROS:
● Data is audited through
a trusted third party.
● City bears little risk.
● Cost effective to
perform advanced
analytics.
EXAMPLES:
● L.A. Department of
Transportation (LADOT)
PROS:
● Flexible, direct access
to raw data.
● City may wish to
experiment with building
up technical capacity.

6. THREE TYPICAL APPROACHES TO MOBILITY DATA SHARING
www.populus.ai
Aggregated/ Reported
By Mobility Operator
Cities Directly Receives
Raw, Disaggregate Data
Data Delivered Through
A Trusted Third Party
EXAMPLES:
● v1.0 of DDOT’s
dockless permit.
● Most carsharing.
PROS:
● Reporting burden
placed on operator.
● City bears little risk.
EXAMPLES:
● Populus reporting in 50+
cities incl. Arlington.
PROS:
● Data is audited through
a trusted third party.
● City bears little risk.
● Cost effective to
perform advanced
analytics.
EXAMPLES:
● L.A. Department of
Transportation (LADOT)
PROS:
● Flexible, direct access
to raw data.
● City may wish to
experiment with building
up technical capacity.
LEAST RISK MOST RISK

7. PRIVACY AND DATA SECURITY CONCERNS RELATED TO MOBILITY DATA
www.populus.ai
● Trip data, including O-Ds, and
“breadcrumb” trace data could be
considered personal information.
● Newer privacy policies such as
GDPR and CCPA are changing
how companies and other
organization treat this type of
information.
● Many data sharing requirements
are moving forward without
guidelines on data security,
processing, storage or retention.
Key issues:

8. Key issues:
BALANCING PUBLIC SECTOR DATA NEEDS & PROTECTING PRIVACY
www.populus.ai
● Securing access to data.
● Establishing data license agreements.
● Reducing risk through secure, third
party solutions.
● Focusing on information to guide
decision making.
● Balancing for mode neutrality.
SAE BRINGS TOGETHER PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
SECTOR PARTNERS TO DEVELOP BEST PRACTICES
FOR MOBILITY DATA SHARING

9. ● Founded by transportation and urban planning PhDs
from UC Berkeley and MIT.
● Platform securely hosts data from the world’s largest
mobility operators, delivering in 50+ cities.
● We harness and contribute to open-source data
specifications (e.g. GBFS, MDS).
● Often more cost efficient than most public agencies
(large and small) in-house solutions.
SECURE AND ROBUST MOBILITY DATA REPORTING
Populus Mobility Manager
www.populus.ai

10. www.populus.ai
FROM DATA TO ACTION
Leveraging new
mobility to expand
equitable access
● Cities can set equitable
vehicle utilization and trip
targets.
● In Chicago, 50% of total
fleet must be deployed in
two priority areas.
● Immediate access to data
allows one to evaluate
incentives and
programmatic efforts.

11. FROM DATA TO ACTION
Identifying and
implementainting
scooter parking in
Arlington County
● Arlington County used
de-identified GPS data
from shared scooters to
identify potential parking.
● They designed,
communicated, and
monitored new parking
infrastructure to
operators.
www.populus.ai

12. FROM DATA TO ACTION
Harnessing data for
new protected lane
infrastructure
● Cities can use
aggregated volumes
from millions of scooter
trips to identify new
protected lanes.
● They can export data
and put it in the hands of
transportation planners
to prioritize safer, cleaner
transport.
www.populus.ai

13. CONCLUSIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Shared mobility solutions can succeed if cities want them to.
● The core benefits of micromobility are that new modes and
business models have attracted a broader segment of people
to demand more cycling infrastructure and safer streets.
● Some regulations actually benefit micromobility operators,
while others make it difficult for them to be financially viable.
● Data-driven policy and planning can help both cities and
operators, but we should be cognizant of mode neutrality.
● Policies should ideally not penalize transportation options (e.g.
transit, micromobility) that can help us make progress on
equity, efficiency, and climate goals.
www.populus.ai

14. THANK YOU
A data platform for cities to manage the future of mobility
Regina Clewlow, CEO & Co-Founder, Populus
hello@populus.ai | @populus_ai
www.populus.ai