sustainability Article “I’ll Take the E-Scooter Instead of My Car”—The Potential of E-Scooters as a Substitute for Car Trips in Germany Laura Gebhardt *, Christian Wolf and Robert Seiffert German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Transport Research, 12489 Berlin, Germany;
[email protected] (C.W.);
[email protected] (R.S.) * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Considering the controversial discussion about the sustainability and usefulness of e- scooters, in this study, we analyzed the substitution potential of e-scooters, especially with regard to car trips. Based on data from the national mobility survey in Germany (Mobility in Germany, MiD 2017), we identified trips that could be covered purely by an e-scooter. Thereby, trip length, trip purposes, weather conditions, and other influencing factors were taken into account. Our analysis showed that, in Germany, 10–15% of the motorized individual transport (MIT) trips could be made by e-scooter. Accompanied by a literature analysis, we then critically reflected on the overall potential of e-scooters and formulated recommendations for urban and transport planning. Keywords: micro-mobility; urban mobility; e-scooter; scooter sharing; car substitution; potential analysis Citation: Gebhardt, L.; Wolf, C.; 1. Introduction Seiffert, R. “I’ll Take the E-Scooter The transportation system is changing, among other things based on emerging tech- Instead of My Car”—The Potential of nologies [1] such as shared micro-mobility services [2]. Electric scooter (e-scooter) sharing, E-Scooters as a Substitute for Car which is one of these new forms of urban micro-mobility [3], has recently been introduced Trips in Germany.