Are shared electric scooters competing with buses? a case study in Indianapolis

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2021

Subject Area

mode - bike, mode - bus, place - north america, place - urban, ridership - behaviour, planning - integration

Keywords

Sustainable transport, e-scooter, bus

Abstract

Shared e-scooter systems have been growing rapidly in many cities as a potential sustainable transportation mode. However, whether shared e-scooters compete with or complement existing public transportation is still unclear. This study proposes a modeling framework to identify the potential impacts of e-scooter trips on the existing bus system, considering the spatiotemporal availability of bus service. The impact of the potentially competing trips on transit ridership can then be verified using Difference-in-Differences models. The framework is applied to Indianapolis, Indiana as a case study. Our results show that about 27% of e-scooter trips could potentially compete with bus system and they are concentrated in downtown. The potential competing relationship can also lead to a bus ridership reduction. The complementary trips (29%) are mainly located outside of downtown where the bus coverage is low. Repositioning e-scooters to areas with limited bus service can better promote synergistic relationship between the two systems.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Transportation Research Part D Home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13619209

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