With a third of New Yorkers living in “transit deserts” — lacking access to a subway stop within walking distance of their homes — and the majority of these being in lower-income areas, the need for better access to transportation options is a critical barrier to upward mobility. To combat this challenge and the broader issue of traffic congestion in the city, Pythia worked with its client Lime to demonstrate the impact the availability of electric bikes and scooters could have — enabling 1.5 million New Yorkers to have better access to nearby modes of transit, including the growing population of delivery workers. This helped change perception towards micro-mobility and, in 2020, ushered in changes to State law, endorsed by the Daily News, that now allow workers to get around more easily on these vehicles, ending the unfair and long-running crackdown on those using them simply to bring others what they’ve ordered.