The Spatial Equity of Dockless Micromobility Sharing Systems in Calgary, Canada
Abstract
Micromobility sharing systems, including bikes and e-scooters, are often promoted as solutions to urban transportation equity challenges. Dockless micromobility sharing systems however remain understudied due in part to their novelty. In particular, there has been limited research on the spatial equity of e-scooter sharing, which concerns whether systems are equally accessible across a city regardless of the relative advantage and disadvantage of urban areas.
This thesis reports on two related analyses of the spatial equity of e-scooter sharing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada using an open dataset of three months worth of trip data (July – September, 2019): a gravity model approach to analyzing the spatial equity of e-scooter trip flows, and an ANOVA and linear regression-based comparison of the spatial equity profiles of dockless bike and e-scooter sharing. The results show that both dockless bike and e-scooter sharing in Calgary are spatially inequitable, and that there are no significant spatial equity differences between the use of dockless bikes and e-scooters.