Analyzing the spatial determinants of dockless e-scooter & e-bike trips across four U.S. cities

Abstract

In this study, we examine micromobility usage across four U.S. metropolitan areas, comprising over 3 million people. As micromobility increases in popularity and becomes incorporated in policies and city planning, it is important to understand how disadvantaged and underserved communities utilize shared micromobility options. Underserved communities typically have the lowest access to transportation options and thus, opportunities to jobs, health care, and food. While micromobility has the potential to increase opportunities in low-income areas, it is unclear how people in low-income and high minority areas use these options. Using publicly available API data, we analyze how e-scooters and e-bikes are employed in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Detroit, and Louisville. We find that the built environment had a strong impact on both the number of trips within a census block group (CBG) and the duration of those trips. Specifically, pedestrian-friendly intersections (e.g. low-speed roads, bicycle and pedestrian trails) generated more trips than automobile oriented facilities. Presence of fixed transportation and percentage of households with one or less cars had a strong and positive impact on the number of trips. The proportion of minorities and percentage of low-wage employment in a CBG are both negatively associated with trips in all four cities. The results suggest that existing efforts to promote shared micromobility usage in minority and low-income communities may not be sufficient. Designing pedestrian and bicycle-oriented streets, increasing public outreach and promoting access, and enforcing equity zones could increase shared micromobility usage in low-income and minority areas.

Keywords:

• Built environment
• micromobility
• scooters
• underserved minorities
• bike share

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

All data and code can be made available upon reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Detroit does have a single circular light rail line in the downtown area called the Detroit People Mover, but it is not considered a robust fixed transit infrastructure since it does not connect to other lines.

2 The average number of trips is unadjusted for multiple vendors. Only vendors for which quality data were available were used in this model and analysis.