Understanding the uneven use of rental e-scooters and implications for equity: Evidence from England's largest e-scooter trial

The availability and adoption of rental e-scooter services, proliferating in cities globally, are spatially and socially uneven. Studies suggest that a majority of users in North American and European cities are men with higher incomes and more education than the average. The use of shared e-scooters by sociodemographic groups that are more likely to have access to a car and a wide range of opportunities raises questions as to whether this new transport technology entrenches inequalities. However, few studies focus on e-scooter use in England, where only shared e-scooters permitted and regulated by the UK's Department for Transport alongside relevant local governments on a trial basis are legal for travel on the public highway. These services were therefore often introduced to achieve policy objectives, and the government commissioned a national evaluation of the e-scooter trials in English cities to understand their impacts. The evaluation report suggests they are popular among lowincome and minority ethnic riders, but highlights the need for further study, such as the one presented here. This article uses a transport poverty framing and a dataset of 3.6 million e-scooter trips taken over 13 months in Bristol to investigate the uneven sociodemographic and spatial patterns of rental e-scooter use. We find that, holding all else equal, more e-scooter trips are taken from areas with larger shares of younger (under 35), black and Asian individuals. However, there are fewer e-scooter trip origins from areas of greater deprivation in Bristol. This suggests that while younger, Black, and Asian populations may be more likely to adopt or have access to escooters as a mode of transport, fewer e-scooter trips from areas of greater deprivation indicate potential barriers to access or adoption in these communities.