Micromobility Continues to Expand as Amsterdam-Based Dott Widens Fleet Offerings

In a postpandemic world, micromobility is thriving so much that micromobility service providers are expanding their fleets. The sharing services of micromobility e-vehicles such as scooters and e-bikes has proven even more successful throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Greener methods of travel have encouraged users to be more sustainable in their shorter journeys and also have helped to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as users can avoid overcrowded public vehicles such as buses.

In light of this, Dott, an Amsterdam-based micromobility startup, is set to launch new e-bikes in their fleet, expanding their scooter-only fleet. The launch is set to include 10,000 e-bikes in major European and U.K. cities which includes Paris, Rome, Brussels and London by the end of 2021, enabling end users to have a choice of which green transport method they wish to use.

Micromobility has expanded rapidly after three major players—oBike, Mobike, and Ofo—helped in the growth explosion of the shared bike market in China. Traditionally thought to be for last-mile journeys, micromobility has become popular for those looking to avoid public transport and tourists. Having more of these vehicles available is steadily helping the world to have greener transportation, with electric scooters and bikes offering rides free of congestion and pollution. Dott—who will now be operating in the Netherlands, where their head office is located—is expanding the market with this fleet expansion. The Netherlands is well known for its citizens’ using bicycles in major cities, so this expansion will be beneficial in the service provider’s success. Cycling is a popular transport method in the Netherlands due to the country’s flat terrain and densely populated areas—meaning that most journeys are short, negating the need to use a car.

The micromobility market has been overly successful, and this was not anticipated due to the failure of oBike—a company that ceased operation in the second quarter of 2018. oBike had been one of the market-leading service providers along with Mobike and Ofo, companies that were catalysts for significant growth in the micromobility market. These three companies offered shared push bikes in the millions on a dockless infrastructure. This infrastructure meant that end users were able to retrieve and drop off bikes after their journeys were completed—and so the bikes were dropped wherever users were done with them, causing these bikes to be stranded everywhere and leading to the infamous “bike graveyards” in China.

However, the market has evolved to create new storage methods, including docked bikes and a hybrid of docked/dockless systems for users to discard their vehicles at the end of the journey. While it is not clear which of these methods Dott uses, they do promote parking in designated areas so as not to block sidewalks—one of the only significant disadvantages to growth in this market. The United Kingdom legalized the use of e-scooters in July 2020, enabling all service providers to move into the new and untouched market of shared e-scooters—but only by way of winning bids—something that Dott has done.

This market will continue to grow as the push for more sustainable living becomes stronger. Many countries are looking for methods to minimize their pollution levels to help fight climate change. The pandemic didn’t necessarily help this fight—with the usage of personal motor vehicles rising to avoid using public transport—but micromobility offers an alternative method of travel for users. For short journeys, biking is often the best option.