Abstract
Shared e-scooters refer to a micro-mobility service that enables the short rentals of e-scooters. The rapid growth of e-scooter sharing has sparked a heated discussion about its role in the urban mobility sector. This article presents a systematic review of the current knowledge on its uses and users, health and environmental impacts, and policy issues. The analysis is based on academic literature, identified with Google Scholar by using keywords and publication years from 2017, and relevant gray literature. Firstly, we highlight that the profiles of e-scooter renters seem to highly match the characteristics of other micro-mobility services users. Secondly, e-scooters are often associated with a high perception of risk from the public and an increasing occurrence of related road accidents. Thirdly, even if promoted as a green mobility option, the true environmental impact of shared e-scooters has only started to be investigated. Early studies point out negative impacts around their production, usage, and maintenance. Fourthly, the integration of shared e-scooters into the existing transport systems requires policy changes, both at the local and national level, including traffic regulations, safety rules, and physical infrastructure. Finally, this paper reveals the ambiguity of the term “e-scooter” and stresses the need for more research, as the future of cities is tied to the development of low-car lifestyles.
Highlights
Some studies highlighted a positive correlation between e-scooter use and higher levels of education [48,49]. These findings show similarities between shared e-scooters and e-bikes, some studies suggest that shared e-scooter services could attract new users to micromobility services
Space allocation for new micro-mobility services is increasingly discussed in the academic literature
Research on micro-mobility services is developing rapidly, and a number of studies focused on shared e-scooter services has been published in recent years
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) has included e-scooter data in its statistics on the growth and use of shared micro-mobility in the US One year after their introduction, people in the US took more trips using dockless e-scooters than with stationbased bikes [12]. Usage patterns, user profiles, the social and environmental impacts of micro-mobility services, and the best practices for regulating their use are only partially analyzed [7,24,25] While these issues have been extensively explored for bicycles and e-bikes [26,27], the role of shared e-scooters in urban mobility practices and policies remains poorly understood, because at present, they represent a relatively new feature of the mobility landscape.
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