Do Scooters Obstruct Access—or Attention? Perceptions of Sidewalk Conflicts and Overlooked Causes of Obstruction

Shared e-scooters have drawn heightened attention from the public and policymakers due to their potential to block sidewalk access, an issue especially salient for people with disabilities. Yet scooters are only one of many sidewalk obstructions. Is the focus on them disproportionate—and potentially biased? To assess whether people see scooters differently than other obstructions, we administered an online survey to 2,347 US adults. We measured scooter versus bike bias in two ways. A between-subjects measure reveals that respondents are less accepting of scooters than identically positioned bikes in some settings, especially when the appropriateness of the parking is ambiguous. A within-subjects measure reveals limited scooter bias: only 15% of respondents are more annoyed by a scooter than an identically placed bike. How do people see scooters relative to other common sidewalk obstructions? Respondents say signs and automobiles block sidewalks more frequently than scooters, and that car obstructions are the most annoying. As sidewalks narrow, people become substantially more annoyed. We find that people with and without mobility disabilities are equally annoyed by sidewalk obstructions, but the former report encountering them more often. We find broad public support for policies to manage scooter parking, with more support among people most annoyed by scooters and people with mobility disabilities. Both groups raise important concerns about designating scarce sidewalk space for scooter parking. Overall findings suggest that scooters, while salient, may distract attention from broader sidewalk accessibility issues including more common sidewalk obstructions and narrow sidewalks that intensify conflict.