Electric scooters are filling a need that nobody knew existed until recently: an easier way to go relatively short distances in urban areas.

The scooter phenomenon has been an economic marvel. It’s a brand-new transportation model
that was impossible before GPS technology, mobile-phone apps and modern battery technology existed.

Customers can locate a scooter with an app, unlock it with their phone, and leave it when they’re done for the next user. Once people got a taste of this, demand skyrocketed.

Billion-Dollar Business

The two biggest scooter companies, Lime and Bird, are already valued at $1.1 billion at $2 billion, respectively, according to IBD’s Aparna Narayanan. These companies didn’t even exist two years ago.

“By 2020, CB Insights expects the bike-sharing and scooter-sharing market to reach $6 billion.” Narayanan notes. (See “Electric Scooter Investment Stampede Tries To Outrun Sidewalk Rage.”)