Understanding the behaviour of users
The project lead by Rym M’Hallah, King’s, and Tibor Petzoldt, TU Dresden, contributes to a sustainable and socially just traffic transformation by addressing the behaviour of users of micromobility vehicles in cities.
Different forms of micromobility hold the potential to contribute to a transition away from motorised vehicles towards more sustainable forms of transport, while also constituting a welcome addition to the mobility options, especially in urban areas. This interdisciplinary inter-university project focuses on users of micromobility vehicles such as e-scooters. Why do they use the vehicles they use, and how do they use them? Despite being a comparatively recent phenomenon, scooters and rental bikes enjoy an immense popularity in the cities in which they are available. However, as a result, their potential impact on road safety has been questioned, as injury crashes and violations of road rules are reported with increasing frequency. This project aims to make a small contribution to the growing body of research in this field, by focussing on the perceptions and behaviour of users of these vehicles.
In particular, the project group plans to mirror data collection activities carried out by TUD in Germany (e.g., surveys or on road observations) on the behaviour of users of micromobility vehicles in the UK. The garnered knowledge will be explored in subsequent bids to understand the impact of both the built in and natural environments. Moreover, the availability of mobility infrastructure as well as the cultural, social, and economical factors are taken into account.