Causal effect of low-income areas on shared dockless e-scooter use

Abstract

Shared dockless e-scooters are a popular micro-mobility solution in the US. However, e-scooters have raised equity concerns about lack of accessibility by low-income residents. Related work on the role of income on e-scooter use is limited, and mostly focused on non-causal approaches and surveys that can only point to non-causal relationships between e-scooter use and income. Causal analyses have been extensively used in other fields of research providing a framework to identify root causes that can point to actionable tasks. We propose a causal framework to carry out causality analyses of the effects of low income on shared dockless e-scooter use, and we discuss results and implications for four cities in the US. We propound that the proposed framework can be used to analyze the income-based imbalances shared dockless e-scooter companies incur in, and might serve as a tool to encourage changes that push for higher equity and inclusion.