Analyzing preferences for shared micromobility services in Japanese urban areas

Shared micromobility services (SMMs) have gained attention as convenient and low-carbon transportation modes. To implement SMMs, it is important to understand users’ preferences. In this study, we conducted a stated preference (SP) survey targeting residents of Chiba City, located in the Greater Tokyo Area, Japan with 347 valid respondents and 2,082 observations to understand preference for SMMs. We considered bike sharing, e-scooter sharing, e-moped sharing, personal size EV sharing, PT (bus) and walking as alternatives. Based on the SP data, an error component mixed logit model was estimated. Results show (1) that among SMMs the disutility of increasing travel time varies among modes and is largest for e-scooter sharing ; (2) SMMs choice is affected not only by variables related to level of services but also socio-demographics and experience of shared mobility services use; (3) health-oriented respondents tend to prefer bike sharing while new technology-oriented respondents tend to prefer e-moped sharing and personal size EV sharing among SMMs. Moreover, we found the value of travel time for bike sharing (34.10 [JPY/min]), e-scooter sharing (49.98 [JPY/min]), e-moped sharing (49.04[JPY/min]) and personal size EV sharing (29.44 [JPY/min]) and compared them with values reported by previous studies.