IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jotrge/v85y2020ics0966692319309408.html

Notes on the practices and appearances of e-scooter users in public space

Author

Listed:
  • Tuncer, Sylvaine
  • Laurier, Eric
  • Brown, Barry
  • Licoppe, Christian

Abstract

While the legalisation of and policies around e-scooters remain the cause of much debate worldwide, this article sheds lights on e-scooter users’ current practices and their interactions with pedestrians in the city. Taking an ethnomethodological approach to public space and mobility, we use video recordings of e-scooter riders to show, firstly, how riders dismount and then move to acquire rights to continue moving, thereby ‘playing’ with traffic rules, in order to weave rapidly through congested urban environments. Secondly, we examine how e-scooter riders and pedestrians deal with the potentially unexpected appearance of e-scooters via displays of attention, adjustments of speed, and the relative rights and obligations established via category-relevant spaces. The findings offer insights into the integration of e-scooters as one of what may be many new forms of electric powered micro-mobility in urban space.

Suggested Citation

  • Tuncer, Sylvaine & Laurier, Eric & Brown, Barry & Licoppe, Christian, 2020. "Notes on the practices and appearances of e-scooter users in public space," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:85:y:2020:i:c:s0966692319309408
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102702
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692319309408
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102702?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Helen Woolley & Teresa Hazelwood & Ian Simkins, 2011. "Don't Skate Here: Exclusion of Skateboarders from Urban Civic Spaces in Three Northern Cities in England," Journal of Urban Design, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(04), pages 471-487.
    2. Aldred, Rachel & Jungnickel, Katrina, 2014. "Why culture matters for transport policy: the case of cycling in the UK," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 78-87.
    3. Kirsty Wild & Alistair Woodward & Adrian Field & Alex Macmillan, 2018. "Beyond ‘bikelash’: engaging with community opposition to cycle lanes," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 505-519, July.
    4. Oostendorp, Rebekka & Gebhardt, Laura, 2018. "Combining means of transport as a users' strategy to optimize traveling in an urban context: empirical results on intermodal travel behavior from a survey in Berlin," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 72-83.
    5. Mike Lloyd, 2019. "The non-looks of the mobile world: a video-based study of interactional adaptation in cycle-lanes," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 500-523, July.
    6. Drut, Marion, 2018. "Spatial issues revisited: The role of shared transportation modes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 85-95.
    7. Paul McIlvenny, 2015. "The Joy of Biking Together: Sharing Everyday Experiences of V�lomobility," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 55-82, April.
    8. McKenzie, Grant, 2019. "Spatiotemporal comparative analysis of scooter-share and bike-share usage patterns in Washington, D.C," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 19-28.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alimo, Philip Kofi & Agyeman, Stephen & Danesh, Ali & Yu, Chunhui & Ma, Wanjing, 2023. "Is public bike-sharing feasible in Ghana? Road users' perceptions and policy interventions," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    2. Colin Ferster & Karen Laberee & Trisalyn Nelson & Calvin Thigpen & Michael Simeone & Meghan Winters, 2021. "From advocacy to acceptance: Social media discussions of protected bike lane installations," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(5), pages 941-958, April.
    3. Mehzabin Tuli, Farzana & Mitra, Suman & Crews, Mariah B., 2021. "Factors influencing the usage of shared E-scooters in Chicago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 164-185.
    4. Downward, Paul & Rasciute, Simona, 2015. "Assessing the impact of the National Cycle Network and physical activity lifestyle on cycling behaviour in England," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 425-437.
    5. Chien, Yu-Shyun & Lu, Chung-Cheng, 2025. "Investigating users’ intention to re-use shared electric scooters through a combined behavioral model," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 533-544.
    6. Chan, Tommy Ho-Yin, 2025. "Socio-material perspectives on perceived accessibility of cycling: A sociological inquiry into practices, regulations and informal rules," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    7. Schumann, Hans-Heinrich & Haitao, He & Natapov, Asya & Quddus, Mohammed, 2025. "The influence of spatial configuration on e-scooter traffic flows," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    8. Cao, Zhejing & Zhang, Xiaohu & Chua, Kelman & Yu, Honghai & Zhao, Jinhua, 2021. "E-scooter sharing to serve short-distance transit trips: A Singapore case," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 177-196.
    9. Shah, Nitesh R. & Ziedan, Abubakr & Brakewood, Candace & Cherry, Christopher R., 2023. "Shared e-scooter service providers with large fleet size have a competitive advantage: Findings from e-scooter demand and supply analysis of Nashville, Tennessee," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    10. David P. Ashmore & Roselle Thoreau & Corina Kwami & Nicola Christie & Nicholas A. Tyler, 2020. "Using thematic analysis to explore symbolism in transport choice across national cultures," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 607-640, April.
    11. Ali Enes Dingil & Federico Rupi & Domokos Esztergár-Kiss, 2021. "An Integrative Review of Socio-Technical Factors Influencing Travel Decision-Making and Urban Transport Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-20, September.
    12. Ziedan, Abubakr & Darling, Wesley & Brakewood, Candace & Erhardt, Greg & Watkins, Kari, 2021. "The impacts of shared e-scooters on bus ridership," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 20-34.
    13. Alexandra König & Laura Gebhardt & Kerstin Stark & Julia Schuppan, 2022. "A Multi-Perspective Assessment of the Introduction of E-Scooter Sharing in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, February.
    14. Lena Kilian & Anne Owen & Andy Newing & Diana Ivanova, 2022. "Exploring Transport Consumption-Based Emissions: Spatial Patterns, Social Factors, Well-Being, and Policy Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-26, September.
    15. Dylan Moinse & Matthieu Goudeau & Alain L’Hostis & Thomas Leysens, 2024. "Intermodal use of (e-)scooters with train in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region: towards extended train stations areas?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 26(2), pages 165-198, April.
    16. Tim De Ceunynck & Gert Jan Wijlhuizen & Aslak Fyhri & Regine Gerike & Dagmar Köhler & Alice Ciccone & Atze Dijkstra & Emmanuelle Dupont & Mario Cools, 2021. "Assessing the Willingness to Use Personal e-Transporters (PeTs): Results from a Cross-National Survey in Nine European Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-15, March.
    17. Nikolaos-Fivos Galatoulas & Konstantinos N. Genikomsakis & Christos S. Ioakimidis, 2020. "Spatio-Temporal Trends of E-Bike Sharing System Deployment: A Review in Europe, North America and Asia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-17, June.
    18. Feroz, Malik Najeebul & Nirmale, Sangram Krishna & Koushik, Anil & Pinjari, Abdul Rawoof, 2026. "Modelling multimodal mode choice behaviour considering spatial variability in level of service attributes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    19. Jin, Scarlett T. & Sui, Daniel Z., 2024. "A comparative analysis of the spatial determinants of e-bike and e-scooter sharing link flows," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    20. Yuan, Meng, 2025. "Mobility governance in remote areas: Evidence from how Qinghai Lake addresses bicycle tourism," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:85:y:2020:i:c:s0966692319309408. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.