Usage Pattern Analysis of e-scooter Sharing System: A Case Study in Gothenburg, Sweden

Paper in proceeding, 2022

Swedish cities are embracing shared micro-mobility systems (SMMS) such as e-scooters sharing systems to promote sustainable travel behavior in urban contexts with corresponding infrastructure planning. SMMS is associated with various social, environmental, and economic benefits, as well as providing solutions for the first- and the last-mile problem of using public transit. This study analyzes the usage patterns of e-scooter systems, based on the scooter operation data of VOI company in Gothenburg, Sweden. The used data cover the transaction data of two and half months during the summer and include over five hundred thousand valid trip records. The result shows that most trips travel a distance between 0.5–1.8 km while the duration lasts between 4–7 min. Fridays and Saturdays are the most popular days while Sunday is the least popular day. The number of trips on Sundays decreases by about 60% compared to Fridays and Saturdays. Moreover, the e-scooters are used to varying degrees in the different areas of Gothenburg. The e-scooters are used at a much higher extent in central Gothenburg compared to areas outside the city center. This can be due to several different factors such as location, land use, and accessibility. Lastly, the results show that the e-scooters are not primarily used for commuting but rather for leisure, which can be seen in the average distance and duration of the entire zone as well as the temporal distribution.