England (Commonwealth Union) – The very first e-scooter was used back in 1915, but has picked up in popularity in recent years. Restrictions are still in place for e-scooter usage for pavements and main roads, although with its increased popularity this may change in the coming years.
With the next round of Bristol e-scooter rental trials due to be completed this month, research from the University of Bristol has shown that there is currently nearly half as many e-scooters-users on a daily basis as cyclists within the Bristol University area. Data, collected anonymously and in real-time, was combined with VivaCity’s Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered sensors since the 30th August. The sensors recorded 523 e-scooters on average, daily throughout the period compared to 1,054 cyclists.
Dr Nikolai Bode, lead researcher at University of Bristol, stated that their goal was to gain insights into general trends in usage of e-scooters in terms of volumes, peak times and road locations space e-scooters are used. In addition, they were looking into interactions between e-scooters and other road users, specifically pedestrians. “From these initial findings, for example, we can see that a low proportion of e-scooters are using the pavement and we can make the assessment that this is linked to most e-scooters using the cycle lane along Park Row eastbound leading towards Bristol city centre,” said Dr Bode.
Mark Nicholson, CEO of VivaCity, stated that their sensors were uniquely able to automatically detect e-scooters anonymously and evaluate their pathways and engagements with road users. He also stated that with councils and transport authorities continue to evaluate e-scooter usage ahead of possible Government legislation in 2024 to categorize e-scooters as a vehicle, this anonymous data can give significant insights into infrastructure use, trends and facilitation.
Local Councils have the data from e-scooter providers. However, this new capability bridges a data-gap on all other e-scooter utilization. It will enable Local Councils to gather much required data on usage patterns to advice on future roll-outs of e-scooters.
