Why not adding "motorcycle" to vehicle's general form factor

[keijipoon]

Have you read our FAQ? It’s possible your question can be answered there!

Yup.

If you are new to the specification, please introduce yourself (name and organization/link to GBFS). It’s helpful to know who we're chatting with!

I'm working for shared mobility company, OpenStreet.Corp(https://www.openstreet.co.jp/) in Japan.

What is the issue and why is it an issue?

I think we should add new vehicle's general form factor "motorcycle" in vehicle_types.json Motorcycle-share is in service by OpenStreet.Corp and it's getting bigger and bigger. However there is no category fit to it but "othrer".

HELLO SCOOTER https://www.helloscooter.jp/

Please describe some potential solutions you have considered (even if they aren’t related to GBFS).

Adding "motorcycle" to vehicle's general form factor.

Is your potential solution a breaking change?

• [ ] Yes
• [ ] No
• [x] Unsure

[mplsmitch]

I'm not opposed to adding a "Motorcycle" enum to the list of vehicle form factors, however the vehicle that you linked to would not be classified as a motorcycle in the countries I am familiar with. Motorcycles are typically capable of highway speeds and subject to stringent licensing requirements for both the vehicle and the rider. They have engine displacements of more than 50cc and usually more than 250cc. I believe the Hello Scooter vehicle is a Honda Gyro, which has a 49cc displacement and would be classified as a moped. From what I've read, in Japan this would be classified as a Motorized bicycle (原動機付自転車, gendoukitsuki-jitensha).

This question highlights the need for a vehicle taxonomy that would define each of the vehicle form factors or at least offer guidance in how vehicles represented by the form_factor enums should be classified. This has become much more complicated with the recent introduction of so many small electric vehicles with different form factors. A taxonomy was developed a few years by SAE but it's not very useful and the SAE license agreement is too restrictive. Is anyone aware of other vehicle taxonomies that we could either use or build off of?

[keijipoon]

Thank you for understanding my situation and appealing for the need to find a new vehicle taxonomy. As you mentioned, new mobilities are showing up so we need some standard to classify vehicle. In Japan these vehicles are getting popular but I’m not sure which category is the best for them. Are these vehicles also moped?

GYRO-e (HONDA) https://www.honda.co.jp/GYROe/

C+walk (TOYOTA) https://toyota.jp/cwalkt/

GFR-02(glafit) https://glafit.com/products/GFR/GFR-02/

Now I’m not sure what is moped? According to the Oxford Learner's Dictionaries, moped is defied as “a motorcycle with a small engine and also pedals” . https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/moped?q=moped

HONDA GYRO has a small engine but does not have pedals. Is GYRO moped? (This is one of the example to show how difficult to classify vehicles.)

I’m sorry that I also don’t have any solution for this question and would like to discuss about it.

[mplsmitch]

How a moped is defined is open to debate. In the specification, the moped enum was intended as a classification for low to medium speed vehicles, lighter and less powerful than motorcycles and distinct from electric kick scooters. In the past, these vehicles might have been classified as scooters but the introduction of the electric kick scooters made this use of the term "scooter" confusing.

GYRO-e (HONDA) https://www.honda.co.jp/GYROe/

I think this vehicle could be classified as either a moped or motorcycle, depending on how those terms are defined. It appears to have a lower top speed, <50kph and would not be capable of highway speeds so I'd say it's closer to a moped than a motorcycle.

C+walk (TOYOTA) https://toyota.jp/cwalkt/

I think this would clearly be classified as a scooter so in your vehicle_types it would look like: "form_factor": "scooter_standing", "wheel_count": 3

GFR-02(glafit) https://glafit.com/products/GFR/GFR-02/

This one I would classify as a bicycle. It appears like it has a throttle mode, in other words it can be propelled by the motor alone as opposed to pedal assist where the motor is only engaged when the user is peddling. If that's true then it would have a propulsion_type of electric :

"form_factor": "bicycle", "propulsion_type": "electric"

[keijipoon]

Thanks for your answer.

I got unexpected answers about each vehicle. I understand that way of classify vehicles is very different based on the culture, the country’s law and the times than I expected.

If other people also don’t have good idea, does GBFS make original vehicle taxonomies?

[cmonagle]

This issue was discussed at the Mobility Data Developer GBFS Workshop:

One of the higher level discussions was focusing on what's relevant for users and consumers, rather than an enum of all possible form factors, which may have different definitions in different regions. This would entail, potentially, removing the form factor field, and instead including some of the following characteristics of the vehicle:

For users:

• A visual identification of the vehicle (icon)
• Number of wheels
• Accessibility features (seats, etc.)
• Combustion, battery, and cargo capacity (included in 2.3)
• Licensing requirements

For data consumers, this should include routing constraints:

• What OSM ways is this vehicle allowed to travel on?
• What is this vehicles maximum speed?
• How does this overlap with geofencing?

[mobilitydataio]

This discussion has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed in 60 days if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[mobilitydataio]

This discussion has been closed due to inactivity. Discussions can always be reopened after they have been closed.