Hit The Road: Micromobility Solutions from The User’s Perspective: An Abstract

Abstract

Micromobility solutions play a major role in the current transformation of mobility in urban areas. It is not yet clarified conclusively which opportunities of micromobility will make a real contribution to more environmentally sustainable mobility and which will not (Böcker & Meelen, 2017). In particular, the significance of e-scooters is controversial (Chang et al., 2016; Christoforou et al., 2021; Donald et al., 2014; Eccarius & Lu, 2020; Flores & Jansson, 2021; Gössling, 2020; Hardt & Bogenberger, 2019; Heidenreich et al., 2017; Hollingsworth et al., 2019; James et al., 2019; Kopplin et al., 2021; Laa & Leth, 2020; Noppers et al., 2015; Younes et al., 2020). Our study sheds light on the actual perception of the supposedly ecologically friendly micromobility solutions of e-scooters and bike-sharing from the viewpoint of potential users, and we try to analyze the ecological aspect from another side. For this purpose, we compare the micromobility vehicle (shared) bicycle, which is environmentally friendly, with the newer micromobility solution of electrical scooters, which is discussed in society controversially. Using theory of planned behavior (TPB), a socio-psychological approach, we investigate the following: (RQ1) Are there differences between micromobility solutions that become apparent under the influence of psychological factors, such as the intended use by environmental awareness?

We use PLS-SEM and MGA to analyze two different groups: Lime (an e-scooter service provider) and Call a Bike (a bike sharing provider) users. We base our study on a sample of standardized online surveys with a total of 217 respondents (142 for e-scooter service provider Lime, and 75 for station-based bike sharing provider Call a Bike). Looking at the Call a Bike group, Environmental Concern hast strong effects on mediators that can influence intention to use, like Attitude Toward Using and Subjective Norms. We can state that in this group Environmental Concern really matters. It seems that bikes are perceived environmentally friendlier than e-scooters, what leads to a better Attitude Toward Using the solution. For e-scooter provider Lime, these effects are reversed. Higher Environmental Concern results in a more negative Attitude Toward Using and a worse evaluation by the social environment. Regarding Intention to Use, both solutions are only affected by Perceived Behavioral Control.