Are shared e-bikes disruptive of established shared e-scooters services? a case study of Braga, Portugal

Abstract

Free-floating shared micromobility services have been present in cities around the world, however litle is still known about the interaction between shared e-bikes and e-scooters. In the last few years shared e-scooters have experienced rapid growth worldwide which, in some cities, jeopardizes the usage of shared e-bikes services. Thus, this research work aims to explore if free-floating shared e-bikes can disrupt the usage of established e-scooters services. A case study in the city of Braga, north of Portugal,is developed from September of 2022 until May of 2023 in order to allow the comparison and contrast of the trips made by each micromobility mode, travel time, main origin and destination of trips,as well as trip characteristics (e.g., vehicle rotation,the total number of trips per micromobility mode, total distance traveled). Results show that shared e-bikes and e-scooters are only used within city boundaries, and most of the trips originated in the parish where population density is higher. In Braga, riders prefer e-scooters when using a shared micro vehicle, since more that 98% of the trips made in the period studied were made by this mode. Also, shared e-scooters traveled more than 260,000 km in these nine months, while only 2,400 km were traveled in e-bikes. In short, Braga has experienced a rapid established of shared e-scooters instead of shared e-bikes, it can be due to the fact that trips on e-scooters are seen to be fun, pleasant and quicker by riders.