Wheels to Meals: Measuring the Economic Impact of Micromobility on the Local Economy

Abstract

Micromobility services have grown significantly in recent years, but their impact upon consumer purchase behavior has remained largely unstudied. The authors estimate how the largest and fastest growing subsegment of the micromobility market – the dockless electric scooter (‘e-scooter’) sharing industry – impacts consumer purchase behavior in the restaurant and other eating places sector, one of the largest segments of the local economy. Using a novel collection of data sources, the authors find that e-scooter usage has a significant positive effect upon spending in this sector, but that this effect varies by category, with strong positive effects upon quick service restaurant and other food and beverage store spending and no effect upon sit-down restaurants. This effect is larger for individuals with higher income, and for businesses that sell at lower prices, have higher market shares and higher penetration. The results suggest that e-scooter activity’s economic spillovers for this sector are largely driven by an increase in unplanned purchase frequency. The analysis suggests that these spillovers are economically significant, with existing e-scooter programs in cities such as Austin and Washington DC increasing sales in this sector over the second half of 2019 by approximately 0.6%.