2021

Roy van Kuijk (r.j.vankuijk@tudelft.nl), Technische Universiteit Delft
Gonçalo Homem de Almeida Correia, Technische Universiteit Delft
Niels van Oort, Technische Universiteit Delft
Bart van Arem, Technische Universiteit Delft

Shared transport creates an opportunity to facilitate the last mile connections of public transport (PT) trips. Nevertheless, user preferences for using such shared modes as last-mile connection have hardly been studied. To explore such preferences within urban areas we have designed and conducted a stated choice experiment in the province of Utrecht, the Netherlands. In the experiment respondents were able to choose from shared bicycles, e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-mopeds to reach their final destination from a PT stop.  A sample of 285 respondents considered their last-mile mode choice of a recent PT trip in light of the new options. Results show that shared (e)-bicycles are generally preferred over e-scooters and e-moped; still a majority of the urban PT travellers prefers not to use shared modes. We also found age and cycling experience to be important determinants for using shared modes. Last-mile travel times have a limited impact on the preferences shared mobility as last mile whilst frequent PT use has a negative relationship with using shared modes.

Abubakr Ziedan (aziedan@utk.edu), University of Tennessee
Nitesh Shah, University of Tennessee
Yi Wen, University of Tennessee
Candace Brakewood, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Christopher Cherry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Justin Cole, WeGO Public Transit

The use of shared electric scooters (e-scooters) has been growing recently across different cities in the United States. The rapid onset of shared electric scooters has raised the question about their potential effects on other modes of transportation, such as transit. Existing literature concerning the impacts of shared e-scooters on transit ridership is limited to user surveys. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting an empirical analysis to quantify the effects of shared e-scooters on bus ridership in Nashville, Tennessee. This study uses fixed effect regression techniques to evaluate if shared e-scooters will compete or complement bus ridership in the city of Nashville. The findings of this study suggest that shared e-scooters do not have significant impact on bus ridership in Nashville, Tennessee. This finding could be attributed to the different user groups and trip characteristics between bus and shared e-scooter in the city of Nashville. The outcome of the study will inform transit agencies and city planners as they plan for the future of mobility in their cities.

Muyang Lu (mkl5678@psu.edu), Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Elizabeth Traut, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
S. Ilgin Guler, Pennsylvania State University

Micromobility, including e-scooters and shared bikes, has recently become a popular travel mode for short-distance trips. A systematic analysis of the temporal and spatial characteristics of micromobility and its interaction with other modes of transportation is necessary for the future development of the mode due to its unique characteristics. In this study, datasets for micromobility (i.e., e-scooter and shared bike), public transit, and motorized vehicles are collected from the City of Austin to perform a detailed spatiotemporal distribution analysis of micromobility in comparison to other traffic modes. A decomposition model of the variations in daily volume is proposed to determine the proportion of trips that happen during the morning, mid-day, and afternoon for each traffic mode. The results show that micromobility trips mostly happen during the afternoon peak unlike public transit or motorized vehicle. Public transit is most likely to be used for commuting amongst the modes considered, and shared bikes are used more for commuting compared to e-scooters. Next, a correlation analysis of micromobility with other modes is conducted to demonstrate the influence of micromobility on public transit and motorized vehicles. The results suggest that in suburban areas micromobility might substitute for public transit and in the city center micromobility might stimulate the use of public transit.

Ralph Buehler, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Andrea Broaddus, Ford
Ted Sweeney, Spin
Wenwen Zhang, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Elizabeth White, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Mike Mollenhauer, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)
Ted Sweeney, Spin

Shared micromobility such as electric scooters (e-scooters) has potential to enhance the sustainability of urban transport systems. Most published studies on e-scooter ridership focus on cities and only capture data at one point in time only. This study reports results from a survey deployed before (n=462) and after (n=428) the launch of a fleet of shared e-scooters on Virginia Tech’s campus in Blacksburg, VA. This allowed for a pre-post comparison of attitudes and preferences of e-scooter riders and non-users. E-scooter ridership on Virginia Tech’s campus follows patterns identified in other studies, with a greater share of younger riders—in particular undergraduate students. Stated intention to ride prior to system launch was greater than actual ridership after system launch for all user groups analyzed in this paper. The drop-off between pre-launch intention to ride and actual riding was strongest for older individuals, women, and university staff. As in many city surveys, the main reasons for riding e-scooters on campus were also travel speed and fun of riding. About 30% reported riding e-scooters to parking lots or to access public transport service. Perceptions about convenience, cost, safety, parking, rider behavior, and usefulness of e-scooters improved among non-riders after system launch—indicating that pilot projects may improve public perception of e-scooters. Building more bike lanes or separate spaces for e-scooters to ride could help move riders off of sidewalks—a desire expressed by both pedestrians and e-scooter users. Besides pedestrian unease about e-scooters ridden on sidewalks, among non-riders concerns remain about parking of e-scooters.

Nicholas Puczkowskyj, Portland State University
Minju Kim, Portland State University
John MacArthur, Portland State University
Jennifer Dill, Portland State University

Unique travel behavior patterns are observed as shared electric scooters (e-scooters) provided by private operators expand into U.S. cities. Three continuous years of e-scooter ridership survey data from the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s E-scooter Pilot Programs were analyzed to ascertain the longitudinal travel behavior patterns and demographic characteristics of e-scooter riders. Cross tabulation and chi-square tests are used to analyze e-scooter trip purposes, first time rider motives, and ridership demographics from 2018 to 2020 in Portland, OR. Similar municipal micromobility reports from Austin, TX; San Francisco, CA; and Santa, Monica, CA are compared against the Portland study to look for generalizable trends. Walking and ride hailing trips were consistently replaced with e-scooter trips over the three years of analysis. In 2020, utilitarian trips replaced recreation trips as the top trip purpose. Finally, there is additional preliminary findings that older riders might use e-scooters as a first/last mile solution to access public transportation.

Daniel Rodriguez-Roman, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
Andrés Camacho Bonet, Recinto Universitario de Mayaguez Universidad de Puerto Rico
Gabriela Yáñez González, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
Fernando Acosta Pérez, Recinto Universitario de Mayaguez Universidad de Puerto Rico
Lina Villa Zapata, Recinto Universitario de Mayaguez Universidad de Puerto Rico
Carlos del Valle González, Recinto Universitario de Mayaguez Universidad de Puerto Rico
Benjamin Colucci Rios, Recinto Universitario de Mayaguez Universidad de Puerto Rico
Alberto Figueroa Medina, Recinto Universitario de Mayaguez Universidad de Puerto Rico

A case study is presented of a dockless e-scooter system in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. As part of the analysis, the attributes and opinions of users and nonusers of the e-scooter service are examined. In addition, methods are proposed for quantifying spatial access to dockless micromobility systems and for measuring the regularity of their spatiotemporal patterns. Spatial access is measured in terms of network-level proximity to the e-scooter fleet, and the regularity of spatiotemporal patterns is assessed using a similarity measure approach.             The analysis suggests that, like in other cities, e-scooter users tend to be male and young, and that nonusers do not participate in the system given cost and safety concerns. Most users are students at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM). Trips starting or ending at UPRM account for 78% of all e-scooter trips, which are also closely linked to neighborhoods with a high concentration of UPRM students. The majority of e-scooter trips occur during weekdays, and the demand for the service drops significantly when the university is not in session. Lastly, the application of the proposed methods is illustrated using data from the considered system. Differences in spatial access within and between the study zones are observed. Keywords: Micromobility, E-scooters, Spatial Access, Spatiotemporal Patterns

Kailai Wang, University of California, Davis
Xiaodong Qian, University of California, Davis
Giovanni Circella, University of California, Davis
Yongsung Lee, University of Hong Kong
Jai Malik, University of California, Davis
Dillon Fitch, Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS)

The impacts of shared e-scooters on modal shifts have received increased attention in recent years. This study provides a review of the literature for modal shifts in the U.S. and other countries. We also conduct an exploration of behavioral survey data collected in several major U.S. cities in 2019. The profile of shared e-scooter users is found to be rather similar to that of station-based and free-floating bikeshare programs. Depending on the circumstances, shared escooters either substitute for or complement the use of other travel modes. The empirical data reveal that people use shared e-scooters in place of cars at substantial rates, which suggests that in many locations shared e-scooters may be a good strategy for reducing car dependence. The use of shared e-scooters to complement public transit highly varies with the local context, showing a potential for modal integration in some cities. In addition, we argue more attention is needed to offering proper regulations and dedicated infrastructure for both e-scooter riders and other vulnerable road users, to increase safety and motivate users to make desirable mode shifts (in particular from car travel) that might help fight traffic congestion and reduce emissions.

Aoyong Li (aoyong.li@ivt.baug.ethz.ch), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich)
He Haitao, Loughborough University
Pengxiang Zhao, Institute of Cartography and Geoinformation
Kay Axhausen, Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich

Influenced by the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many cities in the world adopted the lockdown policy. It has influenced every aspect of human life, such as the economy, tourism, and transportation. Shared micro-mobility services, a relatively new transport model, also influenced by COVID-19. In this study, we aim to analyze how COVID-19 change micro-mobility services‘ travel behaviors by using empirical data from Zurich, Switzerland. This data includes four types of micro-mobility services, namely, docked bike, docked e-bike, dockless e-bike, and dockless e-scooter. The results reveal that passengers would use micro-mobility service in longer duration and distance during COVID-19 than the Normal period. We also find, compared with e-scooter service, which suffers a silent influence, bike (e-bike) services have suffered much more change during COVID-19. The workdays have much more influence than weekends. In terms of trip activities, the share of Home, Park, Grocery activities increases, while the share of Leisure and Shopping activities decreases. Also, fewer people will go to workplaces, and more people, who go to workplaces, switch to micro-mobility services.