An Equity Analysis of the Scooter Share Program in Seattle, WA

Abstract

Micromobility is growing at a rapid pace, and cities have to contend with many issues due to the sudden appearance of shared e-scooters. Much of the current e-scooter research examines safety, however, equity issues are of great importance when considering the potential for accessibility improvements e-scooters can have. This research focuses on the equity analysis of Seattle’s shared e-scooter pilot program from September 2020 and June 2021. The City of Seattle established the three Equity Focus Areas (EFA) with a higher concentration of the disadvantaged and/or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) populations. The scooter vendors are required to allocate 10% of their fleet in EFAs. For the equity analysis, we used the e-scooter trip count data submitted to the Seattle Department of Transportation by vendors. A series of analyses of geographic information systems for scooter deployment and trip destination areas, bicycle infrastructure density, and demographic analysis was used. This study found that bicycle infrastructure does relate to e-scooter usage and that current requirements set by the city do not distribute e-scooters equitably. It finds that the pilot program provides a distribution requirement of 10% of vendor fleets to equity focus areas but does not meet the demand generated by the equity focus areas and does not provide for the equity zones separately (North, Central, South). This creates an unbalanced distribution towards the Central equity zone compared to the other two equity zones. The research concludes that Seattle needs to improve its requirements for distributions to equity zones and provide a more equitable service by looking at each zone separately. The 10% requirement is not enough, and a more targeted distribution is needed to increase equitable access to shared e-scooter services.