The Influence of the Shared E-Scooter System on Modal Shift

Abstract

In many cities around the world, e-scooters have emerged as a new sustainable mode of transport. In addition to owning their personal scooter, users in many cities can rent an e-scooter within the shared e-scooter system. The shared use of e scooters, as an innovative transportation strategy, mainly includes the possibility to pick up and return an e-scooter at any location within a certain zone. Thus, this dockless design of an e-scooter sharing system provides a flexible and efficient option for first/last-mile trips. Bearing that in mind, the aim of this paper is to analyze the modal shift potential of shared dockless e scooters in Belgrade using different tariff policies. Considering that the introduction of a shared dockless e-scooter system in Belgrade represents a hypothetical situation, a stated choice approach was used. Appropriate descriptive and analytic statistics were used in statistical analysis. The obtained results point out whether and to what extent the application of an appropriate e-scooter shared system would contribute to the reduction of traffic congestion in the Belgrade central zone. Also, based on the obtained results, it is possible to identify the factors that discourage people from using shared e-scooter systems.