"Surfing the streets" riding alternative electric micro-mobility vehicles: The initial steps of an emerging urban mobility trend?

Keywords: Urban mobility, Mobility transition, Playful mobility, Micro-mobility, Video analysis
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

Transitioning away from the system of automobility (Urry, 2004) to mitigate the climate emergency (Banister, 2008) implies the need for achieving a multi-modal urban mobility. In their effort to tackle the excessive use of private cars, many cities are not only promoting the use of other conventional modes such as public transport or private bikes but also emerging modes such as (rental) e-scooters or rental (e-)bikes.

In these circumstances, another potential substitute for the car is alternative electric micro-mobility. Consensus has not been reached on how to name and categorize certain alternative vehicles such as monowheels, hoverboards or e-skateboards (see for example Zagorskas and Burinskiene, 2020). More importantly, there is a knowledge gap concerning their street-level adoption and whether the riding purpose is mainly linked to playful (or utilitarian) mobility.

In Finland, there has been a growing societal interest in light electric vehicles (Hyvönen et al., 2016). As part of a project on e-scooters in Helsinki, over sixty hours of video recordings from four selected locations were analysed, all observations being coded according to a set of parameters. Alternative vehicles were coded in parallel with e-scooters (which were more common).

The riders’ profiles (two thirds were delivery workers) and riding behaviors will be discussed, including aspects such as helmet use, phone use while riding or riding on pedestrian infrastructures. This research based on video analysis leads to the conclusion that we might be witnessing the initial steps of an emerging urban mobility trend that could impact urban management and design.