As COVID-19 spread rapidly during March 2020, people across the globe started to rethink the way they commute on a daily basis. In order to avoid contact, cycling and especially e-bikes and e-scooters started to replace public transport. According to BBC News Brussels, many countries in Europe experienced a rapid growth in micro-mobility. In some cases for cycling industries, the goals set for the next 10 years, were already reached within the last few months.

Governments helping out

Thanks to increase in demand, cities have started to develop more extensive bicycle infrastructures across Europe. BBC News Brussels also reported that more than 1 bln euros have been spent overall in building and reconstructing the new bike lanes, since COVID-19 started. 

However, this trend didn’t start in Europe, as New-Zealand was the first country to fund pop-up bike lanes during lockdown, according to Forbes. In some cases, regional governments have decided to subsidize bike and scooter purchasing in cities like Madrid, Rome and Lisbon, where light motor vehicles are more frequently used in daily commutes. 

Cities around the world have decided to help out in developing their bicycle infrastructures, because it seems to be solving several issues in one stroke. The Verge for example talks about major cities in the US (New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta) reducing their carbon footprint due to installing bike lanes and improving the city landscape for pedestrians and cyclists.

Globally speaking, since there’s a need for it, there will be more small and local fleet sharing companies on the rise. There’s a possibility they will be operating as part of the city mass transit system (while being, perhaps, subsidized by the city), as there seems to be a clear trend of some cities treating micro-mobility systems as part of local mass transit.

What does it mean for us?

As micro-mobility businesses and fleet sharing industries are on the rise worldwide, the demand for high quality IoT services is increasing. Speaking of which, Comodule noticed a significant shift in sales as well. Our IoT division crunched together some numbers and as it turns out, the majority of our IoT products sold were delivered within a year. 

For example, our display module, Diamond, has been on the market for 3 years. Currently, around 67% of its units delivered were sold in the last 9 months. Similar growth in sales is noticeable in other products, like Master, as well. 

Since there is much uncertainty in the possibilities of returning to the old way of living, the hype over scootering or cycling doesn’t seem to subside any time soon. This means even more opportunities for micro-mobility industries, changing the game for urban commuting as we speak.

If you are interested in a demo, don’t hesitate to contact our sales team sales@comodule.com