A comparative analysis of e-scooter and e-bike usage patterns: Findings from the City of Austin, TX

E-scooter-sharing and e-bike-sharing systems are accommodating and easing the increased traffic in dense cities and are expanding considerably. However, these new micro-mobility transportation modes raise numerous operational and safety concerns. This study analyzes e-scooter and dockless e-bike sharing system user behavior. We investigate how average trip speed change depending on the day of the week and the time of the day. We used a dataset from the city of Austin, TX from December 2018 to May 2019. Results show that the trip average speed for e-bikes ranges between 3.01 and 3.44 m/s, which is higher than that for e-scooters (2.19 to 2.78 m/s). Results also show a similar speed pattern for the average speed of e-bikes and e-scooters throughout the days of the week and a different speed pattern for the average speed of e-bikes and e-scooters over the hours of the day. We found that users tend to ride e-bikes and e-scooters with a slower average speed for recreational purposes compared to when they are ridden for commuting purposes. Results also show that the different users’ speeds in this mixed traffic stream of Austin City should be considered in the policymaking process. It must be recognized that the disparity in speeds might increase the odds of creating the conditions for a crash between different modes in roads. This study is a building block in this field, which serves as a first of its kind, and sheds the light of significant new understanding of this emerging class of shared-road users.