Shared micro-mobility and transport equity: A case study of three European countries

Shared micro-mobility services (e.g., shared bikes/e-bikes/e-scooters) have the potential to facilitate transport equity by offering available travel modes for transport disadvantaged groups. The achievement of this goal requires disadvantaged people to be able to use and benefit from shared micro-mobility equally compared with others. However, while many studies have explored the equity impact of shared micro-mobility from the perspective of its spatially and socially unequal usage, how its use can help alleviate transport poverty remains unclear. This study provides a more comprehensive picture of the role that shared micro-mobility services play on transport equity by investigating the influential factors of shared micro-mobility use and its impact on perceived transport poverty between different income groups. We developed regression models using data from an online survey conducted in 2022 in three European cities (Malmö, Manchester, and Utrecht). The results suggest that some transport disadvantaged groups (the elderly, females, car non-owners, and suburban residents) used shared micro-mobility less than others in our sample. Shared micro-mobility use shows little potential in promoting the users' accessibility and travel affordability. Nonetheless, shared e-scooters/e-mopeds have a great potential in facilitating transport equity by favoring low-income users' mobility equally or more greatly compared with that of high-income users.