The long journey to equity: A comparative policy analysis of US electric micromobility programs

Inequities that individuals and groups experience among transport and access opportunities remain unresolved. The systemic nature of these inequities suggests they will be reproduced even in new, innovative mobility systems intended to solve disparities. To better understand how the reproduction of inequities in transportation systems innovations might be prevented, theories of equity are reviewed and used to conduct a comparative analysis of a set of policies devoted to electric micromobility (EMM) devices (e-bikes and e-scooters) in 16 US cities. The focus of the analysis is on whether and how the policies used to pilot and implement EMM and other shared mobility systems address equity concerns. Our results reveal that cities at the forefront of piloting EMM systems have provided useful lessons to others further behind the implementation curve. These lessons are of many types, including co-learning with other agencies, conducting research and pilots in advance of developing and enacting EMM policies or service models, and responding to equity demands. Our findings also suggest that policies for EMM devices tend to over-rely on public safety concerns to motivate their enactment. We contend that mobility equity stakeholders should reframe such public safety concerns within broader policy discourses around mobility inequities/injustices and their mitigation strategies, which must be explicitly delineated in the implementation plans and regulations for EMM and other urban shared mobility systems.