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The rapidly growing popularity of electric scooters in recent years has allowed the road user to choose another alternative mode of transportation. On the one hand, it is an ecological means of transportation in the city, allowing you to quickly reach your destination; on the other hand, it is a vehicle that causes risk to road safety. Although this is a fairly new mode of transport, it is already of great concern for road safety authorities. E-scooter accidents are recorded with all road users – pedestrians, bicyclists, motor vehicles, other e-scooter riders, or even alone. In this article, the analysis made according to the accident data of 2019–2020 showed that the highest number of accidents occurred between e-scooters and vehicles. Most e-scooter accidents with motor vehicles occur in the intersection zone or during a vehicle turning manoeuvre to (or from) side streets and exit lanes. A descriptive statistical analysis showed that the proportions of the distribution of road accidents between accident participants changed significantly during the analysis period – the number of road accidents between e-scooters and bicycles increased, while the number of accidents between e-scooters and pedestrians decreased. The road accidents between e-scooters and other vulnerable road users are usually caused by sudden, unexpected manoeuvring of road users. Identification of accident schemes and locations is an additional tool for traffic organisation specialists and road safety professionals to prevent accidents, injuries, and fatalities.

Jørgen Aarhaug, Nils Fearnley, Knut Johannes Liland Hartveit, Espen Johnsson, Price and competition in emerging shared e-scooter markets, Research in Transportation Economics, Volume 98, 2023, 101273, ISSN 0739-8859, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2023.101273. The rapid deployment of shared dockless electric scooters (e-scooters) has resulted in attention from the public and regulators. Recurring issues include fleet size and the number of operators in the market. In this paper we study market development in two Norwegian cities and discuss how these experiences point towards future e-scooter regulation and ask if market regulation based on price competition in the e-scooter market is plausible. We study this by focusing on two natural experiments. First, we analyse the market entry of a low-cost e-scooter company in Drammen. We discuss how that entry impacted two incumbent e-scooter companies and the total market. Second, we look at the change in e-scooter regulation in Oslo in September 2021. This change represents a movement from a laissez faire market approach to a fleet cap of 8000 divided evenly between 12 different e-scooter companies. We study these experiments using data obtained from selected e-scooter operators (GPS location, start/stop time, e-scooter id), municipalities (fleet size, trips) and a web page tracking e-scooter fares. We find that competition between e-scooter companies varies across user segments, with trips made for traveling purposes being less price sensitive, and joy rides being more price sensitive. Also, we find that there are substantial advantages in being a large actor.

Cycling and micro-mobility, in general, have been long promoted as sustainable and suitable modes of transport due to emission mitigation, congestion reduction and improvements to users' health and lifestyle. However, as most cities in the world have followed a car-centric development, their bicycle network is often highly fragmented, constituting the biggest barrier for attracting new users. This paper introduces a data-driven procedure based on micro-mobility geo-referenced data collected in the city of Rome (Italy). The aim is to identify corridors of high-density micro-mobility demand through an iterative clustering procedure and to evaluate potential growth scenarios of the bicycle network by locating the strategic missing links in the existing infrastructure to achieve a fully connected bicycle network that maximizes the overall usage of deployed bike lanes. The procedure has been applied to the city of Rome (Italy) adopting point data of the e-scooter sharing operator Dott.

Recent electric micromobility solutions can represent a sustainable transport alternative in urban environments. Indeed, these can be adopted as a substitute of car, especially for specific distance classes, as well as they can increase accessibility to transit services. Aiming to investigate the potential demand that can be moved from private cars to environment-friendly micromobility modes (e.g., e-scooters and e-bikes), a methodology based on exploiting data by probe vehicles is presented. To test its goodness, it is applied to the city of Rome (Italy) with challenging results.

Background and purpose The incidence of electric scooter (e-scooter) injuries has increased drastically in numerous countries after widespread availability of shared e-scooters. The economic impact on society from a broader perspective has not been studied. We aimed to estimate the incidence of e-scooter injuries, describe the injury patterns, and estimate the costs of e-scooter injuries. Patients and methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study including all e-scooter-related injuries presented in the three adult emergency departments in Helsinki in 2021. We collected the patient data from the university hospital information system. Injury severity was evaluated based on the Abbreviated Injury Score. The cost of the hospital treatment was analyzed based on our hospital district’s service price listing. In addition, we recorded the total amount of sick leave days and estimated their economic impact. Results In total, 446 e-scooter injuries were identified and taken into the analysis (434 affecting riders and 12 non-riders). The median age of the patients was 26 (IQR 22–33), and 59% were male. 257 (58%) of the of the injuries were minor, whereas 155 (35%) were moderate, 30 (7%) serious, 3 (0.7%) severe, and one (0.2%) critical. Furthermore, 220 (49%) of the patients sustained head injuries. A major spike in accident incidence was seen during the weekend (Friday to Sunday) nights, accompanied by a proportional increase in patients with alcohol intoxication. Including both the costs of the hospital care and absence from work, the approximated total cost of e-scooter injuries was 1.7 million euros, with a median cost of a single accident being 1148 euros (IQR 399–4263 €). Interpretation: Considerable number of the injuries are moderate, severe, or worse. Comprehensive preventive measures must be conducted to decrease the incidence of e-scooter injuries. The use of helmets should be strongly encouraged to prevent severe head injuries. The nighttime bans during weekends and speed limits on e-scooters appear to be justifiable.

Despite electric scooter use has proliferated in Italy since 2019, actionable data regarding injury incidence and patterns associated with electric scooter accidents are limited. This study aims at analyzing the rate, clinical, and demographic features of electric scooter accidents accessed to the Emergency Department (ED) of Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCSS (Rome, Italy). This retrospective study included all patients older than 18 years riding an electric scooter in the ED from June 2019 to April 2022. Personal data, injury circumstances, helmet use, and health data were collected. Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) codes of all diagnoses were recorded, and the Injury Severity Score (ISS) was calculated for each patient. The analysis includes 92 patients admitted to the ED due to an e-scooter accident during the study period, with an increase in years. Thirty-two patients presented bone fractures especially concerning the extremities and the face districts. The median Injury Severity Score in the study cohort was 3, with the highest AIS represented by AIS Pelvic-Extremity and AIS External. Moreover, statistical significance was found between AIS Head-Neck and severity of trauma. E-scooters have become a familiar sight in cities worldwide recently, with many new companies renting them for use. But their arrival has also brought new safety concerns. Although most injuries reported are minor, the meager rate of helmet use is critical. Implementing compulsory helmet use for electric scooters for all ages could be a protective factor for being patient with head trauma on urban streets.

Introduction Bicycles and electric scooters (e-scooters) are convenient and accessible means of transportation. Participant safety is contingent on available infrastructure and safe riding practices including not riding while intoxicated. Understanding national prevalence and injury characteristics of bicycle and e-scooter riders who ride while intoxicated may promote awareness campaigns for safe riding practices and decrease morbidity. Methods The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) provides national estimates of injuries that present to emergency departments across the United States. We obtained case information on admitting status, body part injured, diagnosis of injury, age, sex, alcohol usage, and drug usage. We then queried NEISS for injuries related to bicycles and e-scooters in 2019. Results A weighted total of 270,571 (95% confidence interval (CI): 204,517–336,625) bicycle injuries occurred in the United States during 2019; alcohol and drug use were associated with 7% (95% CI: 6–9) and 2% (95% CI: 2–3) of all injuries, respectively. Twenty-four percent (CI: 18--31) of alcohol- and 29% (95% CI: 20–41) of drug-related bicycle injuries resulted in hospital admissions, compared to 15% (95% CI: 12–17) of non–alcohol- and 15% (95% CI: 13–18) of non–drug-related injuries ( p < .001 and p = .002, respectively). A total of 28,702 (95% CI: 13,975–43,428) e-scooter injuries occurred in 2019; alcohol and drug use were associated with 8% (95% CI: 5–12) and 1% (95% CI: 1–2) of injuries, respectively. Sixty percent (95% CI: 47–72) of alcohol-related e-scooter injuries resulted in head trauma, compared to 28% (95% CI: 24–32) of non–alcohol-related injuries ( p < .001). Conclusions Intoxication is associated with increasingly severe injuries, hospital admissions, and head trauma in bicycle and e-scooter riders. The findings support awareness campaigns to educate riders about risky practices, improve non-auto infrastructure, and promote helmet usage.

Pre-registration of scoping review protocol.

Cities are currently struggling with how to regulate new micromobility modes, including e-scooters and dockless bikeshare. Cities are particularly concerned about micromobility parking regulations, which have implications for both traveler safety and mobility. We ask two research questions: 1. How often and for how long are scooters, bicycles, and motor vehicles improperly parked? 2. What are the approximate impacts of improper parking on other travelers, in terms of frequency, duration, and characteristics? In addition to answering the current and pressing need to understand parking on city sidewalks and streets, this project has the potential to influence long-range planning as cities adapt parking for a new era of urban transportation.

Electric scooters (or e-scooters) are among the most popular micromobility options that have experienced an enormous expansion in urban transportation systems across the world in recent years. Along with the increased usage of e-scooters, the increasing number of e-scooter-related injuries has also become an emerging global public health concern. However, little is known regarding the risk factors for e-scooter-related crashes and injury crashes. This study consisted of a two-phase survey questionnaire administered to a cohort of e-scooter riders (n = 210), which obtained exposure information on riders’ demographics, riding behaviors (including infrastructure selection), helmet use, and other crash-related factors. The risk ratios of riders’ self-reported involvement in an e-scooter-related crash (i.e., any crash versus no crash) and injury crash (i.e., injury crash versus non-injury crash) were estimated across exposure subcategories using the Negative Binomial regression approach. Males and frequent users of e-scooters were associated with an increased risk of e-scooter-related crashes of any type. For the e-scooter-related injury crashes, more frequently riding on bike lanes (i.e., greater than 25% of the time), either protected or unprotected, was identified as a protective factor. E-scooter-related injury crashes were more likely to occur among females, who reported riding on sidewalks and non-paved surfaces more frequently. The study may help inform public policy regarding e-scooter legislation and prioritize efforts to establish suitable road infrastructure for improved e-scooter riding safety.

Jørgen Aarhaug, Nils Fearnley, Espen Johnsson, E-scooters and public transport – Complement or competition?, Research in Transportation Economics, Volume 98, 2023, 101279, ISSN 0739-8859, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2023.101279. The rapid deployment of shared electric scooters (e-scooters) has resulted in much attention from the public and regulators. In this paper we look at what role e-scooters have in the mobility system in Oslo, Norway. Previous research suggests that e-scooters fill three main functions: first by serving areas underserved by other modes; second that they replace public transport (PT) trips where the generalised costs of PT are relatively high; and third that they can play an important role as first/last mile mode. In this paper we look at the interaction between e-scooters and PT. We ask: do shared e-scooters compete with or complement public transport? We analyse competition between e-scooters and other modes by combining four data-sources: trip data from e-scooter trips; travel planner data for alternative modes; a survey conducted among e-scooter users collected for the purpose of the study; and the regional travel survey, obtained from the PT authority in the greater Oslo area. We find that e-scooters are both competing with and complementing PT. For most e-scooter trips, the PT alternative would take twice as much time, or more. A sizable share of e-scooter trips are indeed access and egress to/from PT.

This study investigated electric-scooter (e-scooter) rider behaviors and preferences to inform ways to increase safety for e-scooter riders. Data was collected from 329 e-scooter riders via two online and one in-person survey. Survey questions considered rider roadway infrastructure preferences, safety perceptions, and helmet-wearing behavior. Protected bike lanes were more commonly indicated as the safest infrastructure (62.4%) but were less likely to be the most preferred infrastructure (49.7%). Sidewalks were better matched between riders, indicating them as their preferred riding infrastructure (22.7%) and the perceived safest riding infrastructure (24.5%). Riders had low feelings of safety and preference for riding on major/neighborhood streets or on unprotected bike lanes. Riders reported significant concern about being hit by a moving vehicle, running into a pothole/rough roadway, and running into a moving vehicle. In line with the Theory of Planned Behavior, a significant relationship was found between the frequency of riding and helmet-wearing behavior, with more frequent riders being more likely to wear helmets. Findings suggest that existing roadway infrastructure may pose safety challenges and encourage rider-selected workarounds. Public policy may consider emphasizing protected bicycle lane development, rather than helmet mandates, to support e-scooter riding safety for all vulnerable road users.

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M Altres ajuts: This work was supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Inclusiva, Sostenible, Saludable i Resilient. La Mobilitat i la Ciutat en l'Escenari Postpandemia, PANDE 00023, 2020); and the Institut de Cultura, Ajuntament de Barcelona (New mobility in the city: NEWMOB, 19S01360 -006). Evidence shows that the use of micromobility vehicles is currently skewed towards young men, who are more likely to adopt risky behaviours, such as fast or aggressive riding. However, research on micromobility travel behaviour founded on GPS data has repeatedly failed to disaggregate findings by gender, or to account for intertwined sociodemographic identities. In this study, we investigate how bike-share cyclists and private e-scooter riders navigate through Barcelona's cycling facilities, and whether intersecting identities (in terms of gender, age and parenthood) influence their performance. Using 911 GPS-tracked trips of 89 participants, we build a multilevel linear mixed effects model that analyses the speed at which cyclists and e-scooter riders travel. The results show that the speed gender gap is particularly salient among e-scooter users, while being almost non-existent among cyclists. The model further indicates that cycling facilities influence riding speed, and that intersecting identities significantly explain how micromobility users circulate through the city. Drawing on theories of performativity and embodiment, we argue that findings pointing to gender differences in travel behaviour might be explained by women's unwillingness to negotiate traffic or tolerate harassment in highly masculinised spaces. These findings contribute to the limited available knowledge on the objective travel behaviour of micromobility users from a gender and intersectional perspective, i.e. recognising the complex way in which multiple forms of discrimination associated with identity combine. We also provide valuable insights into how the design of urban environments and targeted policies can have diverse effects on different micromobility users.

In the past few years, there has been a sharp increase in the need for both conceptualizations and applied research on the current radical reformatting of urban mobility. Some of the emerging trends were unexpected and poorly predictable. And the formation of a new niche for rental services of electric scooters is perhaps the most vivid example. A whole new industry has emerged in the urban spaces of North America and Europe in a matter of months, demonstrating a tangible paradigm shift in the field of transport systems for reasons of both technological nature and cultural transformations. The combination of the factors and trends that led to the changes that have already taken place is in itself of considerable interest. The non-standard logic of the economic efficiency for the sector of electric scooters sharing still causes a lot of controversy. Skeptics point to the possibility of unwarranted hopes for investors who have rushed into rapidly scalable venture projects. Optimists, on the other hand, insist that the fast-growing sector of electric scooter sharing is a natural new milestone for uberazation. The publication proposes a systematization of favorable conditions for the industry, especially in the context of current and promising technologies of industry 4.0, which, as argued, will allow the industry to survive, ensure operational and financial sustainability – and eventually gain a stable foothold within the updated configuration of multimodal urban transportation. Moreover, there are already well-based hopes for a full-scale revolution of micro-mobility, as the development of small means of mobility in urban environments becomes both irresistible and irreversible. Especially significant improvements could be expected from platform solutions based on integration in applications of both individual offers of scooter sharing operators and multimodal packages. As in other forms of sharing economy, such technologies and tools like dynamic pricing, tariff optimization, reliability improvements, increasing autonomy of electrical engineering, integration, aggregation of user queries, neural networks, other techniques of Big Data uphold expectations that the competitive advantages of rental services of electric scooters will increase in the coming years.

Introduction: E-scooters recently gained mass expansion, leading to increased use-related injuries, most commonly head trauma, facial, and extremity fractures, while abdominal trauma with kidney involvement is less frequent. Here we present two cases of e-scooter-related high-grade blunt kidney trauma. Case reports: The first case was a 24-year-old male presenting with right abdominal pain after e-scooter autonomous right fall. Focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) was negative, while abdominal CT showed a 3 cm middle-renal laceration. Six-day CT showed minimal urinary extravasation. Neither anemization nor impaired kidney function was observed; the patient was discharged after 9 days. The second case was a 42-year-old male presenting with right flank pain and ipsilateral chest pain after autonomous right fall. Thoracic X-ray revealed multiple rib fractures, while abdominal echography showed a non-homogeneous right kidney with a 1.5 cm perirenal fluid layer. Abdominal CT revealed 2.5 × 4 × 3.5 cm full-thickness middle-upper renal parenchyma laceration and confirmed the perirenal hematoma, while demonstrating two hepatic lesions. A series of CT and ultrasounds confirmed the stability of the aforementioned lesions and reduction of the perirenal hematoma; laboratory findings didn’t show anemization nor impaired renal function. The patient was discharged after 10 days. Discussion: Widespread usage of e-scooter is accompanied by an uptick in traumatic events. The chance of renal trauma increases when lateral fall occurs. In our cases patients were hemodynamically stable, the kidney injury severity was high-grade, and non-operative management was effective. Conclusion: E-scooter accidents could lead to high-grade renal injuries, amenable of non-operative management; these events are expected to raise.

Means of transport should be able to fulfil their main function safely and comfortably for travellers and drivers. The effects of vibrations on ride comfort are in the frequency range of 0.5 to 80 Hz and can be analysed using the UNE-2631 standard. This type of analysis has been conducted for several means of transport (bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, etc.), but the literature on e-scooter comfort is very scarce. Existing research describes methodologies, simulation models, and a few measurements related to e-scooter comfort. This paper presents, for the first time, a comfort analysis using an Arduino-based data acquisition system at a sampling frequency of 200 Hz (higher than that in previous studies). Acceleration and speed measurements were obtained by sensorising an e-scooter with inflated wheels without any additional damping systems, which is one of the commonly used e-scooter types. In this study, the comfort for two different speeds (20 and 28 km/h), two types of pavements (pavers and asphalt), and two drivers with different weights was investigated. The results indicate the lowest comfort values for higher velocities and paver pavement. Furthermore, the comfort values were extremely low for all scenarios. In addition, the results demonstrate the necessity of using a sampling rate of at least 80 Hz for this e-scooter model.

Background and objectives: Electromobility has become increasingly popular. In 2001, Segway personal transporters (Segway) were established for tourists, and e-scooters have been in use since their approval in 2019. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the types of injuries directly related to the use of Segways and e-scooters, respectively, in a German city and to phrase potential safety advice. Materials and Methods: All patients presenting to our emergency department after Segway incidents were retrospectively analyzed and compared with the prospectively collected cohort of patients following e-scooter incidents. Presented injuries were analyzed by body region and injury severity score (ISS). Epidemiological data were collected. Results: Overall, 171 patients were enrolled. The Segway group included 56 patients (mean age 48 years), and the e-scooter group consisted of 115 patients (mean age 33.9 years). Head injuries (HI) occurred in 34% in the Segway group compared to 52% in the e-scooter group. The ISS was approximately equal for both groups (mean ISS Segway group: 6.9/e-scooter group: 5.6). Conclusions: Since the e-scooter group presented a high number of HI along with a higher likelihood and greater severity of HI, mandatory use of helmets is suggested.

Urban delivering is facing some significant changes that are heading towards unsustainable scenarios. At the same time, local administrations as well as city planners are involved in promoting new solutions that can help to improve city sustainability and livability. In this context, electric micromobility could offer a valuable contribution. In fact, electric micromobility systems such as e-bikes and e-scooters, both at an individual level or as a shared service, could represent sustainable mobility options for city logistics, especially for specific classes of parcel delivery, users’ characteristics and travelled distances. Considering both the growth of e-commerce and the spreading of new options for delivering parcels (e.g., crowdshipping), electric micromobility (e-bikes and e-scooters) could support the penetration and acceptability of such new options, limiting the impacts of delivery operations. After analysis of the current e-commerce background and a review of the current delivery options to satisfy delivery demand, crowdshipping stands out. Thus, the potential shift from private transport to e-micromobility for crowdshipping is investigated, assuming that potential crowdshippers may, mainly, be commuters. The methodology is based on using probabilistic-behavioral models developed within random utility theory, which allow the potential shift towards e-micromobility for commuting to be forecasted. The models were calibrated in Rome, where more than 200 interviews with commuters were available.

Negative effects of a massive use of cars, such as congestion, air pollution, noise, and traffic injuries, are affecting the cities everywhere. Recently introduced shared vehicles, such as e-scooters and electric bicycles, could potentially accelerate the transition towards sustainable mobility. Although these vehicles are becoming increasingly common and accepted within regulatory frameworks, some local governments are not yet ready to integrate e-scooters into their transport systems. Indeed, the legislation is unclear as it is not easy to determine whether the e-scooter is more like a bicycle or a vehicle. Moreover, it is difficult to predict the impact of e-scooters on road traffic, as well as the type of road infrastructure chosen by e-scooter drivers or the possible interaction of such vehicles with weak road users, such as pedestrians or cyclists. This study showed an analysis of speed and behaviour of e-scooter drivers in the city of Trondheim (Norway) to investigate how to manage this mode of transport. A total of 204 e-scooters were observed on six different roads in the city centre. The speed of e-scooter drivers was measured by a speed tracker (average value 15.4 km/h) and their behaviour recorded by a hidden observer in the field. Gender, age, distance from pedestrians, speed adaptation to the environment, and type of vehicle used were registered for each e-scooter. Through a Binomial Logit analysis, the data obtained were used to analyse the type of road infrastructure preferred by e-scooter drivers. Results showed that the cycle path is more widely used with percentage value from 60% to 90% of users. In addition, the probability of choice depended mainly on the road environment. The aim of this analysis was to assist local authorities in regulating the safe use of e-scooters and developing appropriate policies for their integration into cities.

Comfort and safe-mobility are two aspects that should be provided to non-motorized users that are an increasing component of the urban micro-mobility (e.g. bikes and e-scooters). For these road users, road pavement unevenness, cracks, potholes and other surface defects can make riding uncomfortable and potentially hazardous. Traditionally, road managers use standardized surveys and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of pavement to make decision for maintenance programs and pavement management of road urban network poses challenges in the survey of pavement surface for International Roughness Index (IRI) and distress assessment both for operational and cost constrains. Moreover, there are theoretically limitations of IRI model for low speed urban roads and low-damped vehicles like bikes and e-scooters. In such framework aims of the paper is to investigate the use of smartphone sensors to collect data for the assessment of pavement conditions and definition of KPIs for bike and e-scooter users’ ride comfort and safety. A controlled experiment was performed with repeated runs of a bicycle and e-scooter equipped with a smartphone and an android application was used to collect acceleration and position data. Detailed pavement conditions have been identified with an advanced survey equipment. After data treatments for removing signal noise, adjustment for speed variability and outlier detection, root mean square (RMS) of vertical acceleration signal and weighted frequency content of the vibrations according to ISO 2631–1, have been confirmed suitable KPIs of pavement conditions and comfort rating that can be collected by bikes and e-scooter. Results confirmed the lack of correlation of vibrations in bikes and e-scooter with analogous parameters collected with car as probe vehicle and with IRI standard values, as well. Instead, pavement monitoring by bikes and e-scooter can provide effective detection of typologies and severities of distresses not detectable by similar approaches in damped vehicles. Good correlations have been identified between RMS and medium severity alligator, longitudinal and transversal cracks. High severity pavement distress and potholes have been identified by outliers in RMS.

Purpose of Review With the rising popularity of standing motorized scooters in major cities in the United States, many hospitals are experiencing a surge of traumatic injuries associated with this new mode of transportation. The impact and characteristics of injuries associated with standing motorized scooters are evolving, and safety regulations for the riders are poorly defined. There is a need for a review for healthcare providers and policy makers on this topic. Recent Findings Since its market introduction of rentable standing motorized scooters in late 2017, there has been an exponential rise in emergency department visits and hospitalization due to scooter-related trauma in urban hospitals. There have been a number of independent hospital-based and national-level studies describing demographics and trends of injury patterns in the last 2 years. Summary Patients presenting to the hospital with injuries tend to be young male between 20 and 40 years of age, presenting at night. Head and extremity injuries are common, and patients often do not comply with helmets and other protective gears. Intoxication is a major risk factor for injuries requiring hospital admission and surgical interventions. These findings increase awareness for (1) healthcare providers to recognize and triage high-energy injuries, and (2) policy makers to advocate universal helmet use, increase public safety education, and enforce road safety regulations to minimize the impact of these injuries.

Altres ajuts: Institut de Cultura, Ajuntament de Barcelona "New mobility in the city: NEWMOB (19S01360 -006)" La irrupción de la micromovilidad, como una alternativa sostenible e inclusiva a los modos motorizados convencionales, cobra especial importancia a raíz de la crisis del COVID-19. El objetivo del artículo es estudiar el perfi l de los usuarios de estos medios de transporte y cómo la pandemia ha modifi cado sus desplazamientos, contribuyendo a la incipiente investigación en este ámbito. El estudio ofrece una aproximación a estas nuevas formas de movilidad en Barcelona, usando la primera encuesta realizada en la ciudad a personas usuarias de patinete eléctrico, bicicleta convencional y eléctrica compartidas, y motocicleta eléctrica compartida (n=902). El análisis presentado indica que los usuarios más habituales son hombres jóvenes y ocupados. Los motivos de desplazamiento son diversos, aunque varían en función del vehículo. Los resultados también apuntan que casi un tercio de los usuarios de micromovilidad modifi có su modo de transporte habitual a raíz de la pandemia, especialmente los que antes se desplazaban en transporte público o a pie. Se cuestiona el potencial de la micromovi72 lidad para reducir las emisiones y se apunta a las implicaciones en términos sociales, tanto por el uso diferenciado en función de las características sociodemográficas, como por el impacto en la salud y en el espacio público. The emergence of micromobility as a sustainable and inclusive alternative to conventional motorized modes has gained particular importance as a result of the COVID19 crisis. The aim of the article is to study the profile of the users of these means of transport and how the pandemic has modified their trips, contributing to the incipient research in this area. The study offers an approach to these new forms of mobility in Barcelona, using the first survey carried out in the city on users of electric scooters, shared conventional and electric bicycles, and shared electric motorcycle (n = 902). T he presented analysis indicates that the most frequent users are young, employed men. The reasons for travel are diverse, although they vary depending on the vehicle. T he results also indicate that almost a third of micromobility users changed their usual transport mode due to the pandemic, especially those who previously travelled by public transport or walking. The potential of micromobility to reduce emissions is questioned and social implications are pointed out, both due to the differentiated use based on sociodemographic characteristics, and to the impact on health and public space.

Moving around the city is a problem for the development of most megacities. Due to digital technologies, each city dweller is connected by information and communication channels with the city infrastructure, receiving information and choosing the available modes of movement. Shared micromobility in terms of digital solutions is a convenient service, while reducing congestion and emissions, and preventing air and noise pollution; however, the physical and social dimension of the city is experiencing problems, with growing public health concerns, high overall environmental costs, clutter in the streets, etc. This presentation presents a case study of the relatively recent emergence of shared micromobility in St. Petersburg and attitudes towards its users. In addition to the direct process of use and the experience gained, the factors that determine the social influence and perception of micromobility are highlighted. The highest ratings of the digital component and the rather high importance of such factors as environmental friendliness and safety make it possible to recommend the creation of an interactive digital system that unites riders.

Projecte d’un pàrquing per e-scooters is a bachelor final project of Mechanical Engineering by UPC (EEBE). This work concerns the product design of a two layer modular parking for e-scooters, with the main focus of creating a machine, which supplies a dedicated and organized space for storing e-scooters. The field of usage comprehends both indoor and under cover. The design of this product could be used for creating a recharge e-scooter supply station. With the main goal of optimising the space available, it has been projected an articulated system which enables the storage of the e-scooters one over another. This machine constructed out of normalized articulated bars, has been upheld from a static load study, using programs such as MEFI. Furthermore, a finite element method study has been programmed for one of the most critical components, such as the rack. This work is joined by assembly and component drawings with geometric, dimensional and finish tolerances. Every component has been drawn using SolidWorks Software. To finalize, it has been made a quote of the average costing price of the finalized product.

ObjectiveTo analyse injuries related to manual and electric scooter use from January 2016 up to and including July 2019.SettingElectric scooter rental services were launched in Denmark in January 2019. The services were provided by private companies. Although rules for handling and riding scooters have been established, no reports either before or after introduction of electric scooters anticipated the full extent of use, and injuries to riders and pedestrians.ParticipantsAll patient records mentioning manual or electric scooters. Records were reviewed, and data were stratified according to two groups: manual and electric scooters.InterventionsA predefined survey was completed in all cases where ‘scooter’ was present. This contained variables such as type of scooter, type of participant, mechanism of injury, acuity, intoxication, referral to treatment facility.Outcome measuresAmong incidents involving scooters, summary statistics on continuous and categorical variables of interest were reported.Results468 scooter-related injuries were recorded. We found that manual scooter riders were more likely to be children under the age of 15; fall alone—involving no other party; sustain contusions, sprains and lacerations; and bruise either their fingers or toes. Riders of electric scooters were likely to be 18–25 years, sustain facial bruising and lacerations requiring sutures, and be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Non-riders of electric scooters were mostly elderly people who tripped over scooters, consequently sustaining moderate to severe injuries.ConclusionThere were two different types of population sustaining injuries from manual and electric scooters, respectively. The proportion of non-riders injured by electric scooters were surprisingly large (17%), and while electric scooters are here to stay, several apparently preventable injuries occur as a result of reckless driving and discarded electric scooters. Current rules for usage might not prevent unnecessary accidents and secure traffic safety and the lives of older individuals.

Dockless electric scooters (e-scooter) have emerged as a green alternative to automobiles and a solution to the first- and last-mile problems. Demand anticipation, or being able to accurately predict spatiotemporal demand of e-scooter usage, is one supply–demand balancing strategy. In this paper, we present a dockless e-scooter demand prediction model based on a fully convolutional network (FCN) coupled with a masking process and a weighted loss function, namely, masked FCN (or MFCN). The MFCN model handles the sparse e-scooter usage data with its masking process and weighted loss function. The model is trained with highly correlated features through our feature selection process. Next-hour and next 24-h prediction schemes have been tested for both pick-up and drop-off demands. Overall, the proposed MFCN outperforms other baseline models including a naïve forecasting, linear regression, and convolutional long short-term memory networks with mean absolute errors of 0.0434 and 0.0464 for the next-hour pick-up and drop-off demand prediction, respectively, and the errors of 0.0491 and 0.0501 for the next 24-h pick-up and drop-off demand prediction, respectively. The developed MFCN expands the collection of deep learning techniques that can be applied in the transportation domain, especially spatiotemporal demand prediction.

(1) Background: Electric micro-mobility vehicles (i.e., e-bikes and e-scooters) represent a fast-growing portion of the circulating fleet, leading to a multiplication of accident cases also attributable to risky behaviours adopted by the riders. Still, data on vehicle performance and rider behaviour are sparse and difficult to interpret (if not unavailable). Information regarding the overall accident dynamics can, however, aid in identifying users’ risky riding behaviour that actually led to a harmful event, allowing one to propose efficient strategies and policies to reduce the occurrence of road criticalities. (2) Methods: Speed and acceleration data of six cyclists of traditional and electric bikes were extracted from six closed-circuit experiments and real road tests performed in the city of Florence (Italy) to derive their behavioural patterns in diverse road contexts. (3) Results: The application of analysis of variance and linear regression procedures to such data highlights differences between men and women in terms of performance/behaviour in standing start; additionally, the use of e-bikes favours a higher speed ride in correspondence to roundabouts and roads with/without the right of way. To thoroughly assess the rider’s responsibilities in an eventual accident, an ancillary procedure was highlighted to evaluate whether a micro-mobility vehicle complies with the applicable regulations. (4) Conclusion: With these results, the prospective recognition of rider behaviour was facilitated during the investigation process, and the abilities to extract such relevant information from in-depth accident data wereconsequently enhanced.

International audience; The environmental performance of shared micromobility services compared to private alternatives has never been assessed using an integrated modal Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) relying on field data. Such an LCA is conducted on three shared micromobility services in Paris-bikes, second-generation e-scooters, and e-mopeds-and their private alternatives. Global warming potential, primary energy consumption, and the three endpoint damages are calculated. Sensitivity analyses on vehicle lifespan, shipping, servicing distance, and electricity mix are conducted. Electric micromobility ranks between active modes and personal ICE modes. Its impacts are globally driven by vehicle manufacturing. Ownership does not affect directly the environmental performance: the vehicle lifetime mileage does. Assessing the sole carbon footprint leads to biased environmental decision-making, as it is not correlated to the three damages: multicriteria LCA is mandatory to preserve the planet. Finally, a major change of paradigm is needed to eco-design modern transportation policies.

Shared micromobility services (e-scooters, bikes, e-bikes) have rapidly gained popularity in the past few years, yet little is known about their usage. While most previous studies have analysed datasets from single providers, only few comparative studies of two modes exist and none so-far have analysed competition or mode choice at a high spatiotemporal resolution for more than two modes. To this end, we develop a generally applicable methodology to model and analyse shared micromobility competition and mode choice using widely accessible vehicle location data. We apply this methodology to estimate the first comprehensive mode choice models between four different micromobility modes using the largest and densest empirical shared micromobility dataset to-date (~169M vehicle locations collected in Zurich over two months). Our results suggest that mode choice is nested and dominated by distance and time of day. Docked modes are preferred for commuting. Hence, docking infrastructure for currently dockless modes could be vital for bolstering micromobility as an attractive alternative to private cars to tackle urban congestion during rush hours. Furthermore, our results reveal a fundamental relationship between fleet density and usage. A "plateau effect" is observed with decreasing marginal utility gains for increasing fleet densities. City authorities and service providers can leverage this quantitative relationship to develop evidence-based micromobility regulation and optimise their fleet deployment, respectively., Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 124, ISSN:0968-090X

This paper investigated the travel patterns of 1.7 million shared E-scooter trips from April 2018 to February 2019 in Austin, TX. There were more than 6000 active E-scooters in operation each month, generating over 150,000 trips and covered approximately 117,000 miles. During this period, the average travel distance and operation time of E-scooter trips were 0.77 miles and 7.55 min, respectively. We further identified two E-scooter usage hotspots in the city (Downtown Austin and the University of Texas campus). The spatial analysis showed that more trips originated from Downtown Austin than were completed, while the opposite was true for the UT campus. We also investigated the relationship between the number of E-scooter trips and the surrounding environments. The results show that areas with higher population density and more residents with higher education were correlated with more E-scooter trips. A shorter distance to the city center, the presence of transit stations, better street connectivity, and more compact land use were also associated with increased E scooter usage in Austin, TX. Surprisingly, the proportion of young residents within a neighborhood was negatively correlated with E-scooter usage.