Designing Shared Micromobility Systems for Climate and Equity

Micromobility devices (e-bikes, e-scooters, etc.) are rapidly transforming urban transportation. Governments in the Vancouver region and across Canada lack the knowledge needed to develop shared micromobility (SMM) systems in strategic ways that advance goals related to affordability, efficiency, climate, and equity. This research addresses the questions: 1) How should SMM systems be designed (e.g., price structure, vehicle types, service attributes) in the Vancouver region to maximize the usage and greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits, and 2) What system design features are needed to ensure SMM is accessible to people from equity-deserving groups? Answering these questions requires consideration of how SMM system design impacts usage and use-based outcomes (e.g., mode shift, greenhouse gas emissions) across the population, considering the context of the existing ecosystem of transportation services. We aim to answer these questions with a two-part research design, first building a SMM usage model from existing literature and datasets, and then collecting locally-relevant data on user sensitivity and equity impacts. By applying advanced modeling techniques to real-world data, we will generate practical, evidence-based recommendations for how transportation engineers can design SMM systems to achieve priority outcomes for the system operator (e.g., cost efficiency), transportation agencies (e.g., travel mode shift), and society (e.g., GHG reductions and equity).