The corona crisis hit suppliers of rental systems for bicycles, e-scooters and cars hard. But despite fear of viruses, experts do not believe that users will contract permanently. However, not every mode of transport will get through the crisis equally well.
Frankfurt / Main / Berlin (dpa) - sharing bicycles, cars and e-scooters with other people - in the corona pandemic that seems like a bad idea. Who gets on or in a vehicle that you don't know how healthy the previous user was?
Or when was it last disinfected? In fact, the corona crisis has affected the shared mobility business. However, researchers believe it could even end up profiting from the pandemic.
E-scooters that stand in the way - this has been part of the cityscape in many places for a year. The number of vehicles grew for months, then suddenly it was over: in the Corona crisis, providers reduced the number of their scooters or, like the scooter rental company Lime, initially completely removed them from traffic. The lime scooters are now back on the streets in seven cities nationwide. Before the crisis, there were around 25,000 scooters in 15 cities. A return is now gradually planned, says Alexander Pfeil, General Manager at Lime in Germany. The demand is rising again.
It remains unclear whether lockdown, fear of viruses or both combined caused demand to decline. One thing is certain: other loan systems were also hit. According to a survey by the German Carsharing Association, the number of bookings at member companies fell by 50 percent, sometimes by up to 80 percent, from mid-March to mid-April.
Deutsche Bahn speaks of "occasionally lower demand than usual". It is the provider of the "Flinkster" car sharing network with 4,500 vehicles and the "Call a Bike" rental bike system with 16,000 bikes. But the low is over: "In the meantime, demand is approaching the previous year's level," said a spokesman. In the bicycle sector, new registrations would increase significantly.
According to Martina Hertel from the German Institute for Urban Studies in Berlin, not all mobility offers come through the crisis equally: "Depending on the means of transport, the picture is very different." Experts and suppliers have been assuming a market shakeout for e-scooters for a long time. But this process of concentration would have come without the corona pandemic, says Hertel: "The crisis is now like a fire accelerator."
There are shifts not only within, but also between the mobility offers. Scooter provider Lime is currently registering longer journeys than before the pandemic - presumably because users shy away from using local public transport. "The prescribed distance cannot be maintained in many vehicles, and not everyone has a car," says Lime Manager Pfeil.
Hertel also believes that a shift from bus and train is possible - in favor of the rental bike: "As far as we can see, there is a switch from public transport to rental bikes in cities where there is a loosening." The bicycle is better positioned for trips with luggage than the e-scooter.
The age of "shared mobility" users could also play a role: According to the Federal Office for Risk Assessment, people from the age of 60 in particular consider the effects of the coronavirus on their own health to be large. The users of the loan systems are often young. The management consultancy "The Nunatak Group" determined in a survey that the number of users of e-scooters decreases rapidly with increasing age.
The Frankfurt mobility researcher Martin Lanzendorf sees the crisis as an opportunity for the turnaround in traffic and also some sharing offers. Many people currently have the experience that they can also make good progress by bike or e-scooter. Now it is up to the cities to use this. There are examples worldwide, including in Berlin, in which more space is now being made for bicycles and pedestrians and space is being removed from declining car traffic so that the distance requirement on sidewalks and cycle paths can be observed. "Corona is also a big traffic attempt," says the professor.
The pandemic means problems for car sharing, explains Lanzendorf. Because here you have to use a car without knowing who used to sit in it. The federal car sharing association emphasizes that, according to virologists, the risk of infection in the cars is "rather low". Infections from touching contaminated surfaces are possible, but the providers paid particular attention to cleaning and disinfection. Nevertheless, the association fears "long-term economic effects".
Professor Stefanie Bremer warns against overestimating the importance of the pandemic in such questions: "Whether Corona is really the reason or the main reason, if sharing services do not prevail, I strongly doubt", said the head of the department Integrated Traffic Planning / Mobility Development at University of Kassel. Even before Corona it was clear that the new offers could only be established as a permanently profitable offer in some cities. The current adjustment of offers and simultaneous expansion depend on several factors such as settlement structure, settlement density, the public transport network and social structure.
