Now, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, present a framework for comparing how different micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, and bicycles move in cities, a methodology that can benefit companies and local authorities alike, and—most importantly—contribute to improving traffic safety.

In recent years, e-scooters have proliferated in cities worldwide, offering citizens a novel and convenient way to get around, but their arrival has not been frictionless. Commonly voiced concerns are that e-scooter riders break traffic rules, ride too fast, and park inappropriately. Perhaps most concerning is that crash databases, as well as insurance claims, show a clear and disproportionate rise in crashes as the number of e-scooters increases. Local authorities have sought to address these concerns through measures such as speed restrictions, requiring users to wear helmets, designated parking areas, and limiting the number of scooters or operators allowed in the city—or even outright bans.

“E-Scooters are not necessarily more dangerous than bicycles, but they are often perceived as such, possibly because of their unfamiliarity and the behavior of their riders,” explains Marco Dozza, Professor in Active Safety and Road-User Behaviour at Chalmers University of Technology, and lead author of the new study.

“While bicycling benefits from established social norms, regulations, and infrastructure, the same is not true for newer micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, Segways, monowheels, electric skateboards and so on. The spread and usage of these vehicles is only likely to increase, so finding ways to safely integrate them in the transport system is a vital and urgent challenge.”

To understand what makes riding new micromobility vehicles unsafe and how that compares to riding a more traditional bicycle, extensive data is needed. Scooter companies already have access to huge amounts of data, because they track every ride using GPS, but the quality of the data tends to only be useful for logistics and mapping services, while providing insufficient information about safety. Hospital admissions data and police reports may help appreciate the size of the safety problem—but cannot explain why crashes happen.

What is missing is a framework for collecting and analysing data to understand what makes rider behavior unsafe and causes the crashes. Now, Marco Dozza and colleagues present exactly this.

Two different strategies: braking or steering away

The researchers outline a process for data-collection in the field and analysis, that is intended to be repeatable and adaptable for different vehicles—from identifying useful test-maneuvers, to measuring and analysing the results of subsequent experiments. In their pilot study, the researchers compared bikes and e-scooters directly, equipping them with measuring instruments and testing the riders on various maneuvers, involving combinations of braking—both planned, and in reaction to a random signal—and steering at different speeds.

One of the most relevant findings of the new research was the fact that the braking performance of a bicycle proved consistently superior to the one of an e-scooter—offering faster deceleration and up to two times shorter stopping distance. In contrast, the e-scooter performed better during the steering maneuvers, involving a slalom through traffic cones—likely due to its shorter wheelbase and no need to pedal. The participants were also questioned about their experience and confirmed that braking felt more comfortable on the bicycle and steering more so on the e-scooter.

“The two vehicles showed distinct advantages and disadvantages through the different scenarios,” explains Marco Dozza. “We can say that the best strategy for a cyclist and an e-scooterist to avoid the same crash may be different—either braking or steering away.”

The results from these experiments may inform how the infrastructure might be designed to benefit all riders—for example, a winding path might be easier for e-scooterists than for cyclists, whereas a cyclist might find a narrower path, with low light less challenging than an e-scooterist.

“Of course, this experiment was small, and the data far from conclusive. However, it demonstrates the potential for field data to describe rider behavior and help understand the causes of crashes. With more data, we may reach a comprehensive picture of the rider behaviors that make riding an e-scooter safe which could help authorities devise innovative safety measures and motivate their decisions to the public,” explains Marco Dozza.

Potential application in smart future cities

The researchers will now, in collaboration with Scandinavian scooter company Voi, collect more field data to account for differences between riders and scenarios. Eventually, findings such as the one presented here could teach future automated vehicles and intelligent-transport-systems how to best interact with scooterists and cyclists by anticipating their behavior. Other safety measures that could be based on results from field-data analyses include dynamic geofencing—limiting the scooters’ speed depending on how crowded an area is, or the time of the day or week.

Voi were not involved in the research project outlined here in any form, nor any other scooter operator.

The article A data-driven framework for the safe integration of micro-mobility into the transport system: Comparing bicycles and e-scooters in field trial was published in the Journal of Safety Research and was written by Marco Dozza, Alessio Violin, and Alexander Rasch.

The research was supported by several students from the Master Programme in Automotive Engineering, for instance via the Automotive Engineering Project which will be part of the new Master programme in Mobility Engineering at Chalmers. The Area of Advance Transport and Trafikverket sponsored this work.

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Anyone using Google Maps to plan a trip in US cities where Bird operates its scooter sharing scheme will be able to locate where scooters and bikes have been left.  There will also be an approximate trip duration, estimated price, and the environmental impact which one would assume to be negligible especially if the recharging of the batteries is done by renewable energy.

By looking at the options of cars, transit, bikes and walking, individuals will be able to select a variety of modes of transportation, including scooters, for their journey

Having information available through mapping services is the latest in a series of global Mobility-as-a-Service partnerships designed to simplify transport choices including access to micromobility options.

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Bird e-scooters are available for purchase in Australia and they are setting up ride sharing rental schemes.

“As demand for sustainable transportation increases, Bird is committed to meeting this need while simultaneously reducing street traffic in already congested cities and towns,” said Travis VanderZanden, Bird founder and CEO.

People can find Bird e-scooters and e-bikes by planning a trip and tapping on Google Maps for directions that utilize bicycle and micromobility lanes. If an individual selects a Bird e-scooter or e-bike as their desired mode of transportation, Google Maps will direct them to the Bird app by tapping a prominently displayed “Unlock” button at the bottom of the screen. Riders who do not yet have the Bird app are prompted to install it to their device via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

The move follows a similar scheme rolled out by fellow micromobility operator TIER, which made its vehicles visible on Google Maps in various European cities, including Oslo, Berlin, Munich, and Vienna

Motoring Minutes are heard around Australia every day on over 50 radio channels through the Torque Radio network. Motoring Minute has an average daily audience of over 150,000 listeners. That’s over 750,000 listeners a week.

Motoring Minute is also broadcast as part of Overdrive Radio Program, which is broadcast through the Community Radio Network across Australia and has a weekly audience of over 450,000.

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Many people are concerned about the uncontrolled use of more and more scooters on our footpaths. The Voi company has announced that their e-scooters will include an Artificial Intelligence system.

With high-end machine vision, sensors and AI algorithms, an e-scooter can access if it is in a heavily pedestrianised area and reduce its speed. The scooters will also detect the kind of surface or lane they are riding on (bike lane, pavement, road), and respond with appropriate measures.

Voi is also pursuing:

1. More of their ambassadors on the street to help people ride safely, answer questions, and monitor scooter activity.
2. Increased collaboration between with the police:
3. Continually improving their geofencing system which creates a virtual geographic boundary, enabling software to trigger a response such as limiting speed: when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area: and
4. Introduce number plates on all scooters.

Im David Brown

Motoring Minutes are heard around Australia every day on over 50 radio channels through the Torque Radio network. Motoring Minutes have an average daily audience of over 150,000 listeners. Motoring Minutes are also broadcast as part of Overdrive Radio Program, which is broadcast through the Community Radio Network across Australia and has a weekly audience of over 450,000.

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