Participating in a run/walk event, commonly referred to as a “Turkey Trot,” on Thanksgiving Day is an annual event for many. There are over 750 Turkey Trots scheduled in 2023, with more than 250,000 people signed up to participate.

Turkey Trot registrations in 2023 are up 9.9% from 2022.¹ Will there be similar increases in other forms of recreation/active transportation on Thanksgiving Day this year?

Since 2019, e-scooter and bikeshare (both docked and dockless) trips on Thanksgiving Day have increased steadily across five of the largest systems in the Nation.² In 2022, nearly 55,000 docked bikeshare trips began on Thanksgiving on one of the five largest systems in the Nation; more than double the number in 2019 (roughly 24,000).

Of the five largest docked bikeshare systems, two operated in areas permitting e-scooter and dockless vehicles in both November 2019 and 2022 (Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, CA). E-scooter and dockless bikeshare trips on Thanksgiving Day on these two systems increased from about 4,800 in 2019 to 13,800 in 2023, with most of the increase occurring in Washington, D.C. While trips have increased, e-scooter and bikeshare (docked and dockless) trips on Thanksgiving Day remain below the average for all other Thursdays in November suggesting that work trips, which are fewer in number on Thanksgiving Day than other Thursdays, comprise a significant share of all micromobility trips.

On Thanksgiving Day in 2022, docked bikeshare trips across five of the largest systems in the Nation were about one-third of the average number of trips on all other Thursdays in November 2022. The difference between all other Thursdays in November and Thanksgiving Day is smaller for e-scooter and dockless bikeshare, with 57% and 43% fewer trips on these vehicles on Thanksgiving Day in 2022 in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, CA, respectively.

While fewer in number, trips on e-scooters and bikeshare (docked and dockless) have grown more on Thanksgiving Day from 2019 to 2022 than all other Thursdays.

¹ Run SignUp, “Turkey Trot Check-in: The Early Numbers,” available at https://info.runsignup.com/2023/10/27/turkey-trot-check-in-the-early-numbers/#:~:text=So%20far%2C%20we%20have%20754,of%20380%20participants%20per%20race as of November 13, 2023

² The systems include: CitiBike (New York/New Jersey), Bay Wheels (San Francisco, CA); Capital Bikeshare (Washington, D.C. metropolitan area); Divvy (Chicago, IL); and Blue Bikes (Boston, MA). 2019 selected as comparison year to eliminate effects caused by COVID-19, which was declared a national emergency in March 2020. The declaration ended in May 2023.