Scooter Stats

Fascinating statistics and reporting on the economics of scooters from players like Lime and Bird. Not looking like the best of business models.

  • The average lifespan of a scooter was 28.8 days

  • The median lifespan was 26 days

  • The average vehicle went 163.2 miles over 92 trips during its lifetime

  • Five of the 129 initial-cohort scooters disappeared the same day they went into service (a lifespan of “0” days)

  • The scooter with the longest lifespan made it 112 days, last appearing in the data on Nov. 29

  • Only seven of 129 scooters lasted more than 60 days

Utilization

  • The average trip lasted 18 minutes

  • The average scooter did 3.49 rides per day

Revenue

  • Bird charges $1 to unlock a scooter and $0.15 per minute

  • At 18 minutes, the average trip generated $3.70 in revenue (note that this, based on three months of data in Louisville, is nearly identical to the $3.65 in revenue per ride Bird reportedly told investors it was averaging as of June)

  • At 3.49 rides per day, the average scooter generated $12.91 in revenue per day

General costs, based on reporting by The Information

  • Bird spent $1.72 per ride on charging costs

  • It spent another $0.51 per ride, on average, on repairs

  • Credit-card fees cost $0.41 per ride

  • Customer support adds $0.06 per ride

  • Insurance is $0.05 per ride

  • This adds up to $2.75 in what you could consider operating costs per ride

Louisville-specific costs, from the city’s dockless vehicle policy

  • A company pays $2,000 for a probationary license (required for the first six months of operation)

  • It pays an additional $1,000 to receive a full operating license

  • The city charges an annual $50 fee per allotted dockless vehicle

  • Plus a daily $1 fee per dockless vehicle

  • And $100 per designated group parking area

Louisville scooternomics, in sum:

  • A scooter generates $3.70 in revenue per ride

  • Deducting per-ride costs of charging, repairs, credit-card fees, customer support, and insurance, leaves $0.95 per ride

  • Multiplied by 3.49 rides per day is $3.32 in net revenue per scooter per day

  • Minus the city’s $1 daily fee leaves $2.32

Source: https://qz.com/1561654/how-long-does-a-sco...