Insights and news from the ATOM Mobility team

E-scooters have reshaped how commuters, tourists and residents navigate our cities, providing a fun, low-carbon mode of transport. But while the pandemic has seen an upsurge in ridership because scooters offer a socially distanced mode of travel - the fact that they are permitted has not solved the challenges posed by their deployment. Crowded sidewalks, vandalism, charging-related issues, you heard about it already…

We are happy to share insights about the unit economics of docked based scooter/bike sharing operations with the help of our friends from KNOT - innovative company providing docking stations for scooter services. 

Docked e-scooters not only remove the obstruction that scooters cause when left on pavements, but also are far less lightly to be vandalised. Another advantage of stations is that operators can provide video and other guidance to counsel users on how to ride safely and helmets can be made available at the stations.

But what about docking infrastructure economics? More investment beforehand for a less operational expenses? Where we can situate the break-even? Find our numbers below!

Free-floating vs. dock-based economics

Docking stations reduce operational costs – scooters are locked and charged at the station – meaning there is no need to employ staff to collect scooters every night to swap batteries. The cost breakdown compared is impressive, operational expenses per scooter goes down from almost 6 € to 1 € per day.

On average it costs €0.03 to charge one docked scooter per day, versus €2-6 for free-floating scooters, when all other operational costs are factored in, and the average docking station’s lifespan is 5 years. Also, scooters will be always fully charged, which means you can guarantee your services all day long, even for scooters with low battery capacity.

Station based services also helps to reduce the vandalism impact, increasing the lifespan of the scooter and reducing the overall maintenance costs.

If we put it into the revenues prospective, the daily revenue per scooter (with 3 rides a day assumption) will be considerably higher, here below a rough calculation made on assumption of 3 rides per scooter a day for a fleet of 250 scooters:

Free-floating vs dock-based economics

Naturally, dock-based solutions require a substantial investment into infrastructure. For 250 scooter network cities would need to install around 60 docking stations with 8 slots each (if you opt for a 100% docked-based network), which represents around 250 000 € including scooter upgrade.

It means, to launch your system, you need to account from 35 to 60% more on the investment side, but you will save 30-70% on daily operations.

The bigger picture

Taking the time to look at the bigger picture can save cities a lot of trouble and money – in just seven to nine months the initial cost of a docking-based system starts to pay off when compared to a free-floating model. This investment is not just financially astute, it also creates infrastructure that can lead to a more secure transit ecosystem where e-scooters can be viewed not as nuisance or novelty but an integral part of the transit network. 

But as every city is different, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. For example, in Strasbourg, KNOT allows users to park two metres around the actual station if it’s full (the City of Strasbourg is against free floating e-scooters and doesn't allow it anywhere else in the city).Having flexible options that suit users’ needs gives cities a real opportunity to make the e-scooter a mode of transport that can be truly embraced.

As more countries and cities across the world look to e-scooters as a solution those responsible for their rollout need to consider how they can impact the change in their mobility ecosystem. Docking offers a wise investment and the chance to cement this micromobility mode into the urban landscape.

“It is a rapidly growing global phenomenon: bikes of different breeds zipping through cities, being picked up and deposited at will. They belong to companies, not members of the public. The future of cycling could be sharing, not owning one,” wrote The Bike Europe, source of industry news, data, and analysis for the e-bike and bicycle industry’s decision-makers, at the start of this year. And the pandemic hasn't changed the situation significantly. 

According to a recent eight nation survey Oliver Wyman conducted with approximately 6,000 respondents, 44% of riders said they would be willing to increase their dependence on the service (shared vehicles and ride-hailing) in the future. 34% said they planned to use it as much as before the pandemic. 

Accordingly, there is a pretty big interest in starting a business based on a bike-sharing service. Every business should start with a detailed business plan. Here, we are going to explain how to create a business plan that it would be appropriate to implement in your business.

Mind the differences

If you are a newcomer or even if you have ride-sharing business experience, the first thing to remember before preparing a business plan - every vehicle sharing model is specific and has its own differences to keep in mind. 

In regard to bikes, it is important to remember that users are usually willing to take the bike from one docking station and return it to another. Sometimes, it is located on the other side of the city. So the service provider should calculate capacity, as well as vehicle availability in the most popular parts of the city during rush hours. That might be crucial. 

Know your customer

Before taking further steps and making any decision you must know your audience. So it is the right time to do market research. The first thing to do is to define the characteristics of your customer by identifying:

1. Age - what is the age range of your customer more likely to use your services? What group of customer generations do they belong to? For example, people born in the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2000s are referred to as Generation Z. There are some characteristics that identify their behavioral patterns, so you already know what they might and might not like. 
2. Gender - do you plan to communicate with men, women, or both sexes? There are differences.
3. Marital status and family - it might influence how the person is moving through the city. For example, if she or he must take into account the plans of their partner while scheduling their everyday activities.
4. Location - what are the most likely points which your potential customer is moving between in the city?
5. Income - how likely they are willing to use bike-sharing? And how much they would be willing to pay for the service?
6. Language - what language are you going to use to communicate with your audience? And what languages you should make available on your app.

Usually, several groups can be identified according to these characteristics. The next step is to find people that are representing each group, talk to them and test your hypothesis and assumptions towards them. 

You can also calculate quite precisely the size of your target market. You can find it out by calculating the TAM, SAM, and SOM. TAM is the total available market for the service, for example, the total amount of users. SAM is a serviceable available market in the area you have chosen to operate. SOM is a serviceable obtainable market - a portion of the available market that you are willing to serve.

Choose what suits you best

After you have defined your target market and potential audience, you may start to consider what works best for your customer. There are three options to choose your bike-sharing business from and to put into your bike-sharing business plan:

1. dockless bike-sharing - bicycles are freely available to potential users and they are not located at docking stations. Vehicles can be unlocked using a mobile app and afterward returned to a particular bike rack or even left along the sidewalk. This model is more suitable for tourists and other short-term use cases. Usually, dockless sharing services offer single rides for a small fee, for example, $1 or monthly fees for continuous use. The biggest risk of this model is high operational costs, as well as a bigger risk for vandalism or damage to the bikes;
2. station-based bike-sharing - bikes are into docking stations and users can unlock them to have a ride. In addition, users must return the bike to the same or another docking station. Providers of this model usually offer payment of a flat membership fee plus the fee for the amount of time spent on the road. This is a good choice for the business due to low operational costs for maintenance or relocation. However, dockless bikes are becoming more accessible so there is a risk that a potential user will choose the service with no strings attached rather than one where he has to follow certain rules in terms of the place to leave his bike; 
3. corporate bike sharing - in this case, the service provider takes care of the maintenance and relocation of bikes, if needed, but bikes are owned by the corporation. Most likely, the owner will make bikes available to its employees or use them as a magnet for their business, for example, if the company additionally owns a hotel or entertainment park. This model is the best for any operator. The only and quite significant risk is that the corporate partner can decide to leave this business at any time.

To sum it all up, the dockless bike-sharing model is more convenient for users but involves higher risks for service providers. Station-based bike-sharing is less risky for the service provider, but not as convenient for the end-user. So while making the bike-sharing business plan, the choice should be made depending on the other market players and the risks you are willing to take. And if you have a corporate partner, who is willing to buy bikes and you have to operate the fleet - do it, but remember that you can be left alone at some point.

Calculate all costs

The most important part of the business plan is to find a balance between revenue and costs. If you haven't had a ride-sharing business previously, you would be wise to understand and consider all costs that you will have to cover with your revenue stream. Here are the most important positions you have to think of:

1. vehicle purchase costs - it is recommended that you start with a small fleet and test your business model. However, you will need a first investment to purchase your fleet. And keep in mind that after some time vehicles should be changed, so consider including depreciation costs in your bike-sharing business plan;
2. IT costs - vehicles are just part of the business. The other part is software and apps that allow people to rent a vehicle and you run your bike-sharing business. You can develop the software from scratch. However, there are already appropriate ready-made solutions in the market that have all the functions you might need. For example, ATOM has been operating on the global market since 2018 and has all the expertise you might need;  
3. marketing costs - what is the budget you are ready to invest so that people are informed about your service? Consider all options, for example, social media, local media, your own media (web site, newsletter). Think of the bonuses that you can offer to the client, for example, free rides. However, keep in mind that every bonus reduces your profit margin. Average statistics for fast-growing companies indicate that they invest 10-20% of turnover on marketing;
4. maintenance costs - proper service should be provided to expand the vehicle’s lifecycle as well as to provide clients with the perfect service. So you will need a team of people that can check vehicles every day all over the city;
5. costs for the customer support - your customers will look for options on how to contact you if they have questions while starting to use or using the service. You have to have somebody or even a small team ready to answer them.
6. other costs - you have to hire an accountant. You may require legal support. You will have to cover fees to be able to use the payment system. 

You should consider making a total investment of EUR 15,000-30,000 to launch a small test bike-sharing fleet (30-50 bikes). For a proper full-scale and successful launch with several hundreds of bikes, you will need a total investment of EUR 70,000-100,000. 

What is your bike-sharing business model?

Your business model is the way you will get revenues from your service. A lot of different business models exist in the bike-sharing market. When you think of yours, take a look at what your competitors are doing and think of ways how you can be more attractive to customers. In addition, you have to consider location and take seasonality into account. And one more thing - act fast! This can be crucial for your future success. ATOM allows you to launch your bike-sharing business within a few weeks with a bike sharing software. Learn more about ATOM's solution for shared mobility.

After analysing thousands of rides and hundreds of feature recommendations, we are excited to launch brand new ATOM Mobility dashboard that will help you manage shared micro-mobility services even more successfully. We listened to customer requests and also evaluated trends in order to enrich the new dashboard with more functionalities and richer capabilities.

With a new updated design, technological superpower and data centric approach you will not regret the minutes you spend working in the new dashboard. Plus, it works super fast, too 🚀

The dashboard includes some structural changes but more importantly, we have added:

✅  More layers to Rides, Vehicles and Customers to help you drill down to an individual level and track every activity happened to particular ride, vehicle or customer at every moment. For example, track when ride was paused and for how long and did the vehicle entered no-go zone during the ride;

✅  Comments. Leave comment for each vehicle or customer if needed so your team keep track record of everything that need to be done with the vehicle;

✅  Activity tracker. Track which commands, by whom and why are send to particular vehicle;

✅  Additional filters. You will find options to filter vehicles by vehicle models, statuses, battery, IoT signal and last ride within a given amount of hours. Mix and match these as you please. These are intended to quickly locate problematic vehicles and also get a good picture of your operations;

✅  More user roles. To help you find business partners and effectively manage existing employees, we have launched new user roles in the dashboard. Choose from 10 different roles with various access levels to your operations, statistics, and confidential information. 

💡 Clever insights. In addition, we are now also showing insights regarding average customer satisfaction with your service, rebalancing of vehicles not in use, and problems with IoT signals. This information combined with heatmaps will surely set you ahead of the game as you will have the necessary data to optimize your operations.

If you have any questions regarding the new dashboard or would like to start using our platform, contact us. Chose ATOM Mobility as your partner in the upcoming summer season and stay ahead of competition.

Following the global trend of subscription based businesses and popularity of subscriptions in the micro-mobility space, ATOM Mobility introduces a new product - Subscriptions. Last summer Lime expanded its scooter subscription service LimePass to include daily and monthly passes. A monthly pass with five rides a day would cost around $16.99 and 10 rides a day for $29.99. It was only the beginning of a trend as other operators like Voi and Helbiz also launched their subscription offering and in some countries this type of offer is getting good traction.

Subscription offering is not stopping there with subscription based car rentals getting more popularity. Companies like Audi (Audi Select), Lexus (Lexus Complete Subscription), Porsche (Drive) and Sixt (Sixt+) are offering access to vehicles on a monthly subscription basis. This trend opens a completely new market for startups such as Borrow and Revolve. These companies are offering flexibility in choosing the car for a flat monthly fee with no long-term commitments.

Following this technological change in the market, ATOM Mobility is happy to support different types of businesses - does not matter if a subscription is just a nice-to-have feature in your vehicle sharing business or the whole business model relies on subscriptions only. 

Now you can offer unlimited access to vehicles that users can rent using subscriptions. Popular subscription types include daily, weekly, and monthly passes.  Set daily limits such as unlocks, ride minutes, pause minutes, and ride distance that are included in the subscriptions. Set an appealing price and watch your users benefit from this offer! You can create various types of subscriptions, launch them at any time and see statistics regarding the purchases and usage of the subscriptions, all from one place - ATOM dashboard.

First, ATOM Mobility launched the subscriptions feature in December 2020 adding significant improvements in January and February and planning to add even more features to this product in the future.

Interested to learn more about our subscription offering? Reach out to our sales team.

About ATOM Mobility

ATOM Mobility provides reliable and proven white label technology helping companies to launch and scale shared mobility platforms. Now serving customers in over 20 countries worldwide.