Perceptions of shared e-scooters service among university students in Braga, Portugal

Abstract

Shared e-scooters were introduced in cities as a promise to provide accessible, affordable, flexible, and sustainable mobility. However, it is still unknown if this mode can contribute to reaching sustainability and whether it is perceived by the population as enabling or hampering such endeavors. Therefore, the present research aims to further understand people's perceptions of shared e-scooters around sustainability issues, to identify the main influential factors for using and not using this mode of transport, and how regulation could affect the demand for shared e-scooter trips. For this, a Revealed Preference (RP) survey was implemented in the city of Braga, Portugal to gather information on the above-mentioned matters, and to provide guidance for future policy and transport planning. The survey results show that most users of shared e-scooters consider this mode of transport to be sustainable (98 %). Still, the perception differs among different socioeconomic groups, especially when considering the gender of respondents (ρ<0.05). Regarding the causes for not using shared e-scooters, the preference to use other modes of transport (77 %), the lack of knowledge on how to ride an e-scooter (37.5 %), and the scarcity of road safety (34.4 %) can negatively affect e-scooter usage, mainly for women (ρ<0.05). In addition, regulation that improves road safety for shared e-scooters can affect greatly its usage, and this mode of transport is not perceived as a promoter of gender equity in urban mobility, which could affect the future implementation of more user-centric regulation and planning strategies.