Rationale for governance and effective guidelines towards attainment of shared e-scooter micromobility benefits in Windsor, Ontario

The paper evaluates e-scooter trips using six-month (May to October 2021) pilot study data in Windsor. It employs exploratory and kernel density analysis to gain insight into spatiotemporal e-scooter trip dimensions in the city. Also, it uses regression mediation analysis to determine the effect of population and household densities on the relationship between average household income and the trips generated from Wards in the city. In total, 114,071 e-scooter trips were used for disaggregated and aggregated analysis. At a disaggregated level, exploratory studies showed that e-scooter use generally starts around 10:00 am. Depending on the weekdays, escooters' trip peak between 7:00 pm and midnight and are primarily used for short distances, duration, and at lower speeds. Across the study months, trips gradually decreased, but compared to fall months, spring and summer months have higher numbers of rides. Increased trips around weekends, late-night peak riding, and identical kernel density hotspots of the trip starts and ends locations around a downtown park in the city suggest e-scooter might be replacing walking or cycling. The study highlights e-scooter use for recreational purposes and safety concerns with late night riding of e-scooters in the city. Further, aggregated origin and destination (O-D) of e-scooter trips revealed that most trips start and end within the same Wards and occasionally in neighboring Wards that shared similar boundaries. This served as the basis for mediation analysis for understanding the influence of population and/or household density on the relationship between income and trips originating from Wards. The results from the mediation analysis showed that the average household income plays a more significant role in e-scooter ridership in Windsor. Thus, the study recommends effective e-scooter integration and governance within the city for the sustainable benefits of e-scooters to be derived. It highlights the need to adopt lessons derived from other countries that fully implement e-scooter micromobility modes.