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The Impact of E-scooters in Stockholm Public Spaces
October 2020 Prepared by Adinda Smaradhana Rachmanto in a partial fulfillment of the requirements to graduate with an MSc in Sustainable Urban Planning and Design at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden
VTI Supervisor Karolina Isaksson
KTH Supervisor
Rosa Danenberg
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Konsekvenser av elsparkcyklar i Stockholms offentliga miljöer
oktober 2020 Förberedd av Adinda Smaradhana Rachmanto i en delvis uppfyllande av kraven för att examen med en MSc i Hållbar Samhällsplanering och Stadsutformning på Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan i Stockholm, Sverige
Handledare på VTI Karolina Isaksson
Handledare på KTH
Rosa Danenberg
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ABSTRACT
One of the most popular types of micromobility is an electric scooter (e-scooter). An emerging phenomenon occurred in many places, including Stockholm. Regardless of some positive claims about e-scooters in urban areas, e-scooters also contribute to new urban problems. Some of the problems occurred in public spaces, and those issues are widely discussed among inhabitants. Therefore, this thesis will investigate how the presence of e-scooters affected the sidewalk environment around Stockholm captured from the experience of pedestrians and e-scooter users. The experiences will be captured through a survey and follow-up interviews with pedestrians and e-scooter riders and analysed from an urban design perspective and under sidewalk design criteria. The findings showed that pedestrians and e-scooter users have various perspectives while experiencing e-scooters in the sidewalk environment. Some of the experiences also affected pedestrian decisions to walk on the sidewalks. The recommendations of this study could be used further to minimise the clash in the sidewalk environment, by integrating not only the design aspects but also policy and user behaviour.
Keyword: micromobility, e-scooter, sidewalk environment, human experience
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SAMMANFATTNING
Elsparkcyklar har under senare år blivit ett populärt sätt att ta sig fram i städer runtom i världen. Elsparkcyklar finns idag på många platser, inklusive i Stockholm. Det finns många positiva påståenden och förväntningar om elsparkcyklar i urbana områden, men elsparkcyklar bidrar också till nya urbana problem, inte minst påverkas den offentliga miljön i flera avseenden. Frågan om elsparkcyklars konsekvenser har blivit ett diskussionsämne för städers invånare. I detta examensarbete analyseras hur närvaron av elsparkcyklar påverkar fotgängarmiljöer i Stockholm, med fokus på både fotgängares och elsparkcykelanvändares erfarenheter. Dessa erfarenheter har samlats in genom en enkätundersökning samt kvalitativa intervjuer, och har relaterats till teori om stadsutformning principer för trottoardesign. Studien visar att fotgängares och elsparkcykelanvändares perspektiv på elsparkcyklar i fotgängarmiljöer skiljer sig åt i flera avseenden. Erfarenheterna av elsparkcyklar påverkar fotgängares beslut att vistas i trottoarmiljöer. Slutsatserna och rekommendationerna från denna studie kan användas för att minimera konflikter mellan fotgängare och elsparkcyklar, genom att integrera designaspekter i fortsatt utformning av regelverk och genom att ta hänsyn till beteendefrågor.
Nyckelord: mikromobilitet, elsparkcykel, fotgängarmiljö, mänsklig erfarenhet
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT...... 4 SAMMANFATTNING ...... 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... 8
1. INTRODUCTION ...... 10 1.1 Aim and objectives ...... 12 1.2 Research questions ...... 12 1.3 Delimitation of the project ...... 13 1.4 Structure of the thesis ...... 13
2. PREVIOUS STUDIES AND POLICY RESPONSES ...... 15 2.1 Background to the e-scooter...... 15 2.2 Policies related to micromobility and e-scooter ...... 17
3. STOCKHOLM AND E-SCOOTER PHENOMENON ...... 18 3.1 Stockholm's urban form and its transportation system ...... 18 3.2 Stockholm strategies towards a Pedestrian-Friendly City ...... 19 3.3 The e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm ...... 20 3.4 Regulation for e-scooter management in Stockholm ...... 21
4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS ...... 23 4.1 Public space ...... 23 4.2 Street and sidewalk as public spaces and its relation to walking ...... 24 4.3 An environmental-psychology approach to evaluate the sidewalk environment ...... 26 4.4 Improving sidewalk environments from an urban design perspective ...... 27 4.4.1 How could sidewalk design enhance the walking experience? ...... 28 4.5 Reflection ...... 29
5. METHODS ...... 30 5.1 Research approach – exploratory research ...... 30 5.2 Case Study ...... 30 5.2.1 Odengatan (Vasastaden) ...... 31 5.2.2 Hornsgatan (Södermalm) ...... 33 5.3 Triangulation method ...... 35 5.4 Research design – a qualitative method ...... 35 5.5 Research methods – data collection and analysis ...... 36 5.5.1 Observation ...... 36 5.5.2 Survey ...... 38
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5.5.3 Qualitative interview ...... 40 5.6 Ethical Consideration ...... 42
6. RESULTS ...... 44 6.1 Observation ...... 44 6.1.1 Odengatan, Vasastaden ...... 44 6.1.2 Hornsgatan, Södermalm ...... 47 6.2 Survey ...... 51 6.2.1 Pedestrians ...... 52 6.2.2 E-scooter user ...... 55 6.3 Qualitative interview ...... 58
7. DISCUSSION ...... 70 7.1 Sidewalk environment and e-scooter parking conditions ...... 70 7.2 Pedestrian's experience towards parked e-scooters ...... 72 7.3 Pedestrian's experience towards moving e-scooters ...... 73 7.4 E-scooter users' perspectives toward e-scooters and sidewalk environments ...... 73 7. 5 How to better manage the sidewalk environment based on the pedestrians and e-scooter users' experience and how to minimize conflict between the two groups ...... 75 7.5.1 The design of the sidewalk environment ...... 75 7.5.2 The e-scooter regulation ...... 77 7.5.3 The behaviour of the e-scooter user ...... 78
8. CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ...... 80 Suggestions for future research ...... 81
REFERENCES ...... 83 APPENDIX 1 – Questionnaire ...... 87 APPENDIX 2 – Interview guideline ...... 95 APPENDIX 3 – Interview consent ...... 97
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing this thesis and pursuing master's study has taught me a lot both personally and academically. This journey would not be possible with the help of many people, and I dedicate this page to them.
First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor at VTI, Karolina Isaksson, for her dedicated support, thoughtful guidance, and patience. During the past eight months of this project, Karolina taught me a lot about how to conduct research, which I found fascinating. She was always available to support me and ensure that I could make it through this thesis journey. I am really grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Karolina. Thank you for being such a great mentor and role model. I also want to express my gratitude for having Rosa Danenberg as my supervisor from the KTH side. Thank you, Rosa, for supplementing me with a lot of readings and materials that enhanced my knowledge of urban design. Thank you also, for many insights and support regarding the report, which later motivated me to learn how to write academic papers better. I also want to thank Gunilla Björklund for her guidance while I was struggling with composing the survey. Gunilla has always been so patient and supportive when I developed much confusion regarding the survey, which later enhanced knowledge that was new to me. Thank you, Gunilla, for always being my good teacher. Also, many thanks to the respondents that willingly participated in this study. This study will not be possible without your participation and insights.
My master's journey would not be possible without the financial support from the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) from the Indonesian Ministry of Finance. This scholarship opened up many opportunities for me to learn in a country that has many advancements and good practices – which later enhanced my knowledge and experience and motivated me to contribute in Indonesia better in the future.
Special thanks to all of my friends that made my master's journey colourful and lovable. I could not have made this journey without the endless support from my former classmates from the design track at SUPD. It's been a little lonely without your presence during the thesis period, especially when I remember our sleepless nights at the studio. Special thanks to Diana, Marianna, Sonal, Alex, Gonca, Henry, and Moi for always teaching me to be 'present' in my life and enjoying the experience. I also could not have made this journey without endless supports from my Indonesian family in Stockholm. Thank you for being my' home', where I could turn back to when I missed my real home a lot. Thank you, Adrian, Linggar, Fadel, Ratna, (another) Adin, Robby, Riyad, Handar, and Sahil for being my support system regardless of the many arguments that we had among each other. Thank you, too for my 'sisters’ Mbak Fumi and Mbak Nova, who always supported their ‘little sister’ no matter what. Thank you also to Eryna, Icha, Indira, Firda, and Linda for always keeping in touch with me, although we are in different parts of the world.
Most important of all, I want to thank my family for their unconditional support and love. Thank you, Ibu, for always pouring your prayers upon me and supporting me catching my own happiness. Thank you, Bapak, for your endless belief that I could be a better version of myself. Thank you, little sister, Jasmin, for all of the cheesy conversations in the early morning. Last, thank you to my brother, Faris, for always catching up with me when I was at my lowest points and reminded me always to be strong for the whole family.
Adinda Smaradhana R. Stockholm – 2020
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1. INTRODUCTION
A new option in transportation has emerged in various shapes around urban areas, with one of its forms is micromobility services that appeared since late 2017 (Bloomberg, 2019). One of the most popular types of micromobility is an electric scooter (e-scooter), which is a two-wheeled scooter that is propelled by a motor. The popularity of e-scooters accelerated when an increased number of service providers started to offer a rent-by-the-minute scheme, which had proved to attract riders who do not have their own vehicle (Maiti et al., 2019). The adoption rates of the e-scooter services in the market showed impressive numbers. In twelve months, a pioneering e-scooter company named Bird attracted 10 million scooter rides after their first appearance in Southern California (Deloitte Insights, 2019). In September 2017, e-scooter sharing services reached 626 cities in 53 countries around the world (EY, 2019). The emerging growth of micro-mobility services, especially in the city, claimed that this service could benefit the public with a fast and convenient mode of transport for last-mile mobility in urban areas (Deloitte Insights, 2019; EY, 2020). A study conducted by Hardt and Bogenberger (2018) suggested that e-scooters could help to lessen several inner-cities problems such as traffic congestion and parking problems. VOI, as another pioneering e-scooter company, also argued that their service provided a fast and convenient mode of transport and declared that their services could lessen the emissions in urban areas (VOI, 2019).
E-scooters and urban problems Regardless of some positive claims about e-scooters in urban areas, e-scooters also contribute to new urban problems. One of the issues that is widely reported by the media concerns safety aspects (The Guardian, 2019; The Local, 2019). A study conducted by Maiti et al. (2019) found that many micromobility riders impeded public spaces and caused harm and conflict to other users, such as pedestrians. On the one hand, e-scooters are critiqued as unsuitable for the sidewalk environment, understood as a domain for pedestrians with their low-speed movement. On the other hand, it is also undesirable to have e-scooters moving in a fast-speed lane where various high-speed vehicles pass along in this space. The rapid growth of e-scooter popularity in a short time made cities unprepared to deal with the issues regarding regulation and infrastructure. Cities are still struggling with regulating many aspects of the presence of e-scooters, including in which space it should move in (Times, 2019; Maiti et al., 2019). Thus, with a lack of proper city infrastructure to accommodate e-scooter riders (Transportation for America, 2020), some people claimed that the arrival of e-scooters could be a trigger to make the city improve the quality of its streets and sidewalks in general (The Guardian, 2019). Moreover, it also makes cities consider their infrastructure to prepare for other mobility options that possibly occur in the future.
The safety aspects then are related to numerous accidents caused by e-scooters, where in some cases, it not only caused injuries but also led to deaths (VTI Cykelcentrum, 2020; Aftonbladet, 2019; The Guardian, 2019). Based on this issue, some countries like Singapore and France have already implemented regulations that banned e-scooters from moving in the sidewalk (CNN, 2019). Last year, the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) also banned e-scooters, or the law refers to mechanically propelled vehicles, from the pavement, cycle paths, and public footpaths until new regulations are in place (House of Commons Library, 2019). In March 2020, The Guardian reported that the Department for Transport showed a 'green light' towards the presence of e-scooters in public roads since they are currently reviewing the existing rules concerning how the new technology can operate safely. Pilot projects have been executed in some areas around London which are aimed to gather relevant insights about this new transportation model and how it impacted, other street users. However, there are still
10 some public doubts about whether those actions could lessen the accident numbers (The Guardian, 2019).
On the other hand, there is also another emerging discussion about the presence of e-scooters in urban environments. The discussion revolves around how dockless e-scooters impact the quality of public spaces as part of the built environment. Dockless e-scooters have turned into the most popular type of e-scooter service because of the flexibility offered to its users (NPR, 2018). In this system, a user could quickly leave the vehicle in various places after using it. Some of the parked e-scooters were considered to cause trouble for pedestrian or other sidewalk users, especially for people with physical disabilities or people with strollers (LA Times, 2019). Other complaints were also raised in the media regarding how cyclists that share their space with e-scooter riders are affected (James O. et al., 2019).
Nevertheless, the literature and research on e-scooters are currently limited (Hardt and Bogenberger, 2018). More research is needed to understand how e-scooters affect the built environment. For instance, how e-scooters affect sidewalks that have different physical characteristics or how e-scooter affect the aesthetical value of the sidewalk (Shaheen & Cohen, 2019). Empirical findings regarding how pedestrians perceive e-scooters in their surroundings are also still limited. While on the other hand, material about understanding how humans perceive new materials in their built environment could be useful in the planning and design process for public spaces.
E-scooters in Sweden The presence of e-scooters also affected people in Sweden, one of the countries in Northern Europe that has a long-established commitment towards implementing and promoting sustainable mobility (GCM handbook, 2010). The terms of sustainable mobility emerged because of increasing awareness of the negative environmental impact of motorized transport and the high usage of private cars (Isaksson et al., 2017). Sustainable mobility is defined as an effort to provide a transport system where environmental, social, and economic accessibility could be sustained for future generations without causing any distress (Isaksson et al., 2017). It is also understood as a new approach to transport planning, including looking at transport as a valued activity that focuses on accessibility rather than mobility (Rehnlund, 2019). Stockholm, as the capital of Sweden, is widely recognized for its ambition to achieve sustainable mobility through implementing, for instance, a high share of public transport and a congestion tax to lessen car usage (Isaksson et al., 2017). Infrastructure planning and design are also interested in stimulating more people walking, as explained in one of the planning documents from the City of Stockholm named the Stockholm Pedestrian Plan (2012). However, Stockholm also faces various issues with the emerging growth of e-scooters, which is claimed by some as one form of sustainable mobility services. In 2019, a survey conducted by The Local, a local news company in Sweden, regarding what the inhabitants think about the presence of e-scooters in Stockholm. The results showed that there are split opinions on whether the presence of e-scooters is thought of as an excellent addition to the urban area (46%), or it is considered annoying and/or unsafe (44%). Analyzing the impact caused by e-scooters in the context of Stockholm would be interesting to add to previous studies that were mostly conducted in non-European contexts (e.g., Fang & Steele, 2018; James et al., 2019).
Therefore, this thesis will investigate how the presence of e-scooters affected the sidewalk environment around Stockholm as captured from the experiences of pedestrians and e-scooter users. Bhattacharya, Mehta (2015) argued that many architects, urban designers, and planners are mainly focused on anthropometric studies, artistic designs, and the form and function of public spaces leaving
11 out the human behaviour factor during the planning and design process. Mehta claimed that understanding human behaviour could be a significant approach to re-create spaces where humans have always held interactions. Understanding what pedestrians feel and perceive about e-scooters could be relevant to Mehta's argument to provide insights about the built environments that consider more than just an aesthetical judgment (Wunderlich, 2008). These new understanding could be essential to sustaining public life (Gehl, 2010). The investigation could be used as an empirical study exploring several possible ways how sidewalks around Stockholm could be adapted for the emerging phenomenon. At the same time, this study could also provide a better value for various groups of sidewalk users.
1.1 Aim and objectives This thesis aims to provide insights into how e-scooters affect the sidewalk environment based on the experiences of pedestrians, e-scooter users, and experts that aware toward e-scooters phenomenon in Stockholm. The experiences will be captured from surveys and follow-up interviews with pedestrians and e-scooter riders and analysed from an urban design perspective under sidewalk design criteria.
This research will contribute to the conceptualization of an experience-based design by exploring a relationship between people and the environment. This study also sought to be research that understands the relationship between the built and social environments to guide policymaking and planning. By analysing the issue contextually, from both the sidewalk users and a sidewalk typology, this process could lead to the suggestion for a sidewalk design framework that is integrated with the needs to adapt because of the presence of e-scooters, specifically in Stockholm.
1.2 Research questions In this research, the sidewalk environment will be analysed, not only because the sidewalk environment is widely affected by the presence of e-scooters but also because it is one aspect of the city's infrastructure that is important to be able to provide a vibrant urban environment (Active Design, 2013). In one of Stockholm's policy documents, titled Stockholm Urban Mobility Strategy, it was stated that the city needs to enhance the sidewalk environment for pedestrians. Therefore, it is perceived as a crucial aspect of the built environment to develop and achieve Stockholm's vision as a Walkable, Pedestrian-Friendly city (Stockholm Urban Mobility Strategy, 2012).
The research questions posed in this study will be answered through empirical studies:
1. How do pedestrians experience the accessibility, safety, and comfort of the sidewalk environment with the presence of e-scooters? 2. How do the e-scooter riders experience the sidewalk environment while using the vehicle?
The empirical findings from questions 1 and 2 will then be related to the specific qualities of different sidewalk environments, and lead to a discussion about:
3. What aspects of the sidewalk design in the inner-city area of Stockholm could improve the situation for both pedestrians and e-scooter users? Are there ways to develop the sidewalk environment to mitigate potential problems/clashes between pedestrians and e-scooters?
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1.3 Delimitation of the project This thesis will have several delimitations in order to answer the research questions within the allocated time. The study will focus on the rented e-scooter, which is shared micro-mobility transportation and dockless vehicles, not private vehicles. This limitation is related to a report that mentions that e-scooters classified under this category are the typical type that affects sidewalks. The study was also conducted in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and a city with a high number of rented e-scooters (The Stockholm Region, 2019). Since Stockholm also still in the early stage of developing its regulations regarding e-scooters, this study would be an insight about e-scooter management from a sidewalk user perspective.
In terms of analysing the points of view of the users, both pedestrians and e-scooter users will be considered. Respondents were expected to be familiar with the presence of e-scooters in Stockholm and the condition of the selected study area. Specifically, those who understand the sidewalk conditions before and after the e-scooter phenomenon occurred. However, because of the COVID-19 outbreak in Stockholm, there is a slight change in the targeted respondents to a user who is mainly using the sidewalk environment in the Stockholm inner city area. This change was initiated because of the difficulty of approaching people in a current situation where many residents avoided contact with people in public areas. Furthermore, tourists will not be considered as part of the pedestrian traffic in this study since most of them are passing through the area in a short time.
Furthermore, this study analysis assumes a normal situation in Stockholm without the COVID-19 outbreak. The study is also based on seasonal conditions where pedestrians and e-scooter users could do their activities in the sidewalk environment without major disruptions from snow or ice.
1.4 Structure of the thesis This thesis comprises seven chapters, starting with the introduction in chapter 1 that explains the current phenomenon of e-scooters worldwide and some issues reported by various media about how cities have reacted to e-scooter development and the limited number of studies conducted on this topic. The aim and research questions are also explained (chapter 1.1 and chapter 1.2) and the delimitation of this study is discussed (chapter 1.4). Some studies about micromobility and e-scooters are mentioned (chapter 2.1) and related policies about micromobility and e-scooters (chapter 2.2) will be placed in chapter 2 to give a brief background from various studies about e-scooters. Chapter 3 explains the context of Stockholm. The city is the scope of this study to give a reader a better understanding of the urban form and transportation system in Stockholm (chapter 3.1) and the vision of Stockholm to be a Pedestrian-Friendly City is articulated after (chapter 3.2). The next chapter discusses how the phenomenon of the e-scooter affects Stockholm (chapter 3.3) alongside Stockholm City's efforts to regulate their presence in public spaces (chapter 3.4).
Some theoretical frameworks have been chosen as basic knowledge that could guide the whole research process, starting from the definition of public spaces in an urban area (chapter 4.1). The relationship between the sidewalk and street regarding walking activity is discussed in the next chapter (chapter 4.2). How people evaluate their environment through environmental psychology is mentioned in chapter 4.3. An explanation on how sidewalk design could be analysed from an urban design perspective (chapter 4.4), and how the theories explained before could give an understanding of how people perceived the quality of their sidewalk environment because of the appearance of e- scooters (chapter 4.5) also presented.
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Some methods used to gather data in this study will be explained in chapter 5. The chapter will start with a brief explanation of the approach used in this thesis (chapter 5.1). The location selected will be presented next (chapter 5.2). The different types of research methods used will be briefly explained (chapter 5.4 and 5.5) and how the triangulation method will benefit the data analysis (chapter 5.3). In the end, the ethical considerations will be explained in chapter 5.6.
The next chapter (chapter 6) will explain the results. Chapter 6.1 will explain the results of the observation process in two locations: Odengatan, Vasastaden (chapter 6.1.1), and Hornsgatan, Södermalm (chapter 6.1.2). Chapter 6.2 will describe the results from the surveys, the pedestrian survey (chapter 6.2.1) and the e-scooter user survey (chapter 6.2.2). Last, the qualitative interviews will be described in chapter 6.3. The discussion will bring up in chapter 7. The discussion part is divided into several parts (chapter 7.1-7.5) and will lead to the conclusion part of this study (chapter 8).
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2. PREVIOUS STUDIES AND POLICY RESPONSES
This chapter consists of background information regarding the e-scooter, one micromobility option, and what factors affect its popularity in the cites. As a new phenomenon, studies regarding e-scooters are still limited; hence some of the previous studies will be explained in this chapter. Another aspect that will be explained in this chapter regards regulations which are crucial for maintaining the appearance of this phenomenon. Furthermore, some good practices will also be explained for better insights into how cities are facing this new phenomenon.
2.1 Background to the e-scooter Micromobility is a term that is mainly used to describe small-scale and light-weight vehicles easily accessed for digital applications (Tice, 2019), one form of a shared mobility system. Shared micromobility is an innovation in the transportation system that provides opportunities to its users as a mode of transportation on an as-needed basis (Shaheen & Cohen, 2019). The common aim of micromobility services is a complimentary service to public transport, providing the first- and last-mile mobility (EY, 2019). First- and last-mile mobility refers to the first and/or end segments of a journey taken by public or mass transit, aiming to connect origin and destination points to the stations or stops on the transit network (Kanuri et al., 2019). The companies who sell this type of mobility also argue it provides easier access to the public transportation, which is found to be more reliable to lessen car usage in the city (VOI Sustainability Report, 2019). Another quality that promoted the popularity of the shared micromobility services is the smaller space needed while riding these vehicles. This space- efficient vehicle is seen as an efficient solution for facing the city's traffic while also offering a mobile alternative when public transit is not a sufficient option (Hardt & Bogenberger, 2019; Schaller Consulting, 2018).
One of the most popular micromobility is a shared dockless e-scooter. This form of e-scooter is similar to the conventional type of scooter, except it has a motor installed on it (Fang et. Al., 2018). Dockless e-scooters also offer flexibility to its users through a system where the rider could rent scooters for short-term periods and pick up and drop it off wherever he/she desires (Moreau et al., 2020). Nevertheless, the previous literature also reports several problems caused by e-scooters. One of the heavily discussed issues about e-scooters is related to its environmental contributions. Many e- scooter companies claim that their service is a climate-neutral service (TIER, 2020) that could reduce pollution and gridlock around Europe (VOI, 2020). An independent report by Ernest and Young (EY) in 2019 also mentions that micromobility services, with a focus on the e-scooter, needs two key drivers to improve the environmental impact of their services which are lessening emission in cities and strengthening the sustainable mobility mix.
The quality and constraints of e-scooters A life-cycle assessment is a tool that is commonly used to quantify the total environmental impacts of e-scooters. The study by Hollingsworth et al. (2019) uses this method to analyse the potential reduction of the environmental impacts of shared, dockless e-scooters and how policymakers could use this method to regulate e-scooters. This study resulted in the background case that even though many companies claimed that e-scooters provide an effective solution to urban congestion and last- mile problem, they do not inevitably reduce environmental impacts from the transportation system. Claims of environmental benefits should be met, for instance, with longer product lifetimes (Hollingsworth et al., 2019). Various e-scooter companies have focused on this issue. In the first
15 quarter of 2019, VOI stated that their vehicles had an average lifespan of 12 months. In early 2020, VOI evolved their vehicle's battery technology and claimed that in early 2020, the lifespan of their e- scooters was expanded into 24 months. They also added that it could contribute to 71% of carbon emission reduction for their operations in Paris (EY, 2020).
However, another study by Moreau et al. (2020) showed that the lifetime of the e-scooter, which is the total days the e-scooter remains on use, in Brussels was only seven and half months. This study also mentioned that other parameters outside of technological issues influence the lifetimes of e- scooters, including usage, vandalism, and maintenance. E-scooter providers in Brussels also added that most of the deterioration in their vehicles was caused by poor city infrastructure, such as holes in the road. The behaviour of its users also affected faster deterioration, in some cases, because two persons ride it together at high speed on the edge of the sidewalk (Moreau et al., 2020). Hollingsworth et al. (2019) also suggested that cities could enforce anti-vandalism policies to lessen e-scooter misuse or mistreatment, which is proven to shorten the lifetimes of e-scooters. Moreover, further studies are still needed to analyse the environmental impacts of dockless e-scooters, especially since e-scooter companies are constantly evolving their technology to increase the environmental benefit of their service.
Few studies are being conducted to examine how e-scooters impact the built environment. One study was conducted by Fang et al. (2018) analysing different conditions in which e-scooters are parked in San Jose, California. The result showed that most of the e-scooters parked in the sidewalk environment, but just a small percentage of them affected the pedestrian accessibility. The findings of this study also suggested several implications on how a city could react to this phenomenon. For instance, an understanding that shared e-scooter parking is a sidewalk management issue, e-scooter parking regulations may not need to be unusually strict, and consider encouraging e-scooter parking on private property. The study suggests conducting other research to explore the impact of e-scooters in different types of neighbourhoods and different pedestrian flows, which is still limited.
Another study by Maiti et al. (2019) investigates a large-scale-field study to empirically investigate safety issues because of micromobility services from pedestrian points-of-view. This study is based on a quantitative approach using a crowd-sensing real-time encounter data with a follow up post-study survey. The combination of both methods produces both rider mobility patterns and infrastructure- related constraints and subjective perceptions regarding the application used. Nevertheless, qualitative studies from the pedestrian's perspective about the presence of e-scooters on sidewalks are still considered limited. A study by James et al. (2019) also positions the perceptions of pedestrians and e-scooter users as relevant aspects to evaluate the impact e-scooters fully have on sidewalk users and how to regulate the scooters. There are many potential ways to explore the pedestrians' perspectives and experiences through an empirical study that could be insightfully used regarding better management of micromobility services on sidewalks.
Another study also questions the affordability of e-scooters. In one study conducted by the 6T- research office in France stated that most of its users in Paris categorized as the well-off society rather than the general French population (6t-bureau de recherche, 2019). Their income is relatively higher than the average standard of living in Paris. Based on the quantitative survey conducted, 53% of e- scooter users were also classified as executives, people with mid to high incomes. Thus, this research argued that e-scooters also caused an inclusivity issue. People with lower incomes tend not to choose e-scooter as a daily transportation.
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Furthermore, the issue of inclusiveness generates an accessibility issue to this vehicle for all groups of people. A finding from the trial project of e-scooter in Wellington, New Zealand, mentioned that e- scooters could increase mobility for people with disabilities (Wellington scoop, 2020). They improved the e-scooter scheme to provide better access to people with physical disabilities which is a relevant issue to make e-scooters more inclusive in the future.
2.2 Policies related to micromobility and e-scooter The rapid growth of dockless e-scooters in such a short period caused many cities to put a new focus on how to regulate this new service to achieve the best public outcomes. In 2018, The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released a Guideline for Regulating Shared Mobility. The guideline aims to present recommendations for cities to establish guidelines for proper management of public-use mobility options that are not yet set in the current regulations (NACTO, 2019). In the United States, as a study case of this guideline, shared micromobility vehicles are inconsistently defined and regulated among different states. This guideline suggested that since private companies operate these systems, cities must distinctly define and control their expectations of micromobility companies to maximize the benefit for the public. The guideline included some best practices on how some states in the United States regulate the presence of micromobility, included e- scooters, in their urban environments. Some of the regulations are about requirements regarding vehicles, fleets, adaptations and parking (NACTO, 2019). This guideline also suggested that implementing a shared micromobility system should work effectively if they are planned together with communities. Hence, public engagement could enhance the success of shared micromobility systems. Furthermore, regarding the inclusivity issue, this guideline also emphasizes prioritising disadvantaged populations to address longstanding structural inequities.
E-scooters, on the one hand, give rise to challenges and opportunities as a new form of a vehicle that needs new regulatory standards. A study by Moschlidou & Pangbourne (2019) argued that steering new smart mobility in the city should classify them as a specific type of vehicle and make the system align with the cities' long-term strategies. Earlier this year, the Government of London started to review the current regulations that apply to e-scooters and put a trial on legalizing rental e-scooter in several places in the city. It is part of the long-term strategy entitled a Future of Transport program, where e-scooter consider as a clean and fast way to travel with the potential to lessen the burden on the transport network. The aim of the trial is to gathering evidence on the safety, how people use them, whether the potential benefits can be realized, and how to manage downsides (Gov UK, 2020). As by June 2020, the trial is still ongoing in several places, this effort already produced some recommendations for e-scooters appearance in the street. Some of the recommendations related to vehicle design, rules for e-scooter users, and how it should be used on the road. Furthermore, the evidence gathered from this trial also could be used as additional research to determine whether to legalize e-scooters and other micro-mobility vehicles fully.
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3. STOCKHOLM AND E-SCOOTER PHENOMENON
The phenomenon of dockless e-scooters occurred in Stockholm, as one of the capital cities in the Scandinavian region. Thousands of e-scooters were dropped in Stockholm streets since 2017, where the City of Stockholm listed 9000 vehicles placed in the city during October 2019 (Region Stockholm, 2019). On the other hand, Stockholm is committed to the concept of a sustainable mobility system in the whole Stockholm region while also providing a walkable city for its inhabitants. This chapter will explain the context of Stockholm city, as the study area of this research, and several strategies related to Stockholm's vision to provide a sustainable transportation system and a pedestrian-friendly city. Furthermore, the phenomenon of the e-scooter that is present in the city of Stockholm will also be explained in this chapter alongside the city's efforts to tackle this emerging issue.
3.1 Stockholm's urban form and its transportation system Stockholm is the capital of Sweden, with a total population of 2,377,81 (SCB, 2019). It is expected that by 2060, the population of Stockholm will continue to grow to 3.3 million people because of births and immigration from abroad (Rehnlund, 2019). In terms of structure and traffic network, since the middle ages, Stockholm was formed as a dense stone-built city intended for walking (Söderström et al., 2015). Later growth of Stockholm's urban forms was also affected by the development of new forms of traffic. In 1967, there were 300.000 cars in Stockholm for a population of around 805.000 inhabitants (SCB, 2020). The structure of a traditional walking city was then supplemented with expanded transit and car cities (Söderström et al., 2015). Plans began to widen the narrow streets, but this evolution involved changing the city structure (Rehnlund, 2019). At the same time, the metro network was developed to decentralize functions outside the old city centre. The suburban development was built alongside the metro network to create a new urban centre with a principle called ABC Town – Arbete (work), Bostad (housing), och Centrum (services) (Söderström, Schulman, Ristimäki, 2015; Cervero, 1995). The Stockholm public transportation system consists of metro, commuter rail, busses, and ferries. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, it was predicted that 900.000 people use those services to commute daily inside Stockholm (SLL, 2020).
Because of the emerging availability of various transportation types in the city, Stockholm was committed to providing a less fossil fuel-intense way of organizing the urban transport system. High usage of public transportation systems inside the region and initiatives such as a congestion tax put Stockholm in a better position to lessen the emissions caused by its transportation system (Rehnlund, 2019). The Urban Mobility Strategy released in 2012 was written to make the current transportation system in Stockholm more efficient because of the increasing population and Stockholm's vision for a fossil-fuel-free city by 2050. Traffic planning prioritized the usage of existing infrastructure while optimizing the limited space to accommodate the movement for people and goods. In parallel, Stockholm also considered improving the value of roads and streets as a vibrant environment that promotes social interaction (Stockholm Urban Mobility Strategy, 2012). On the other hand, in the last six years, various new types of mobility services occurred in the city of Stockholm. An explanation of how the city of Stockholm was affected by the new phenomenon of e-scooters will later be explained in sub-chapter 3.3.
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3.2 Stockholm strategies towards a Pedestrian-Friendly City In 2010, Stockholm adopted a new City Plan as a long-term strategy for Stockholm's urban development, with the primary vision to be a Walkable City. The new City Plan was an updated version of m Stockholm's 1999 city plan commissioned by stadsbyggnadsnämnden (The City Planning Department) (Lindblom, 2012). The concept of a walkable city was chosen as a response to the increasing growth of Stockholm's population and how future development should respond to the challenges that occurred. The focus that the city plan brings up planned development that emphasized the qualities of a humane, safe, and environmentally friendly city. There are nine focus areas in the planning process and four strategies to guide the implementation of a sustainable urban development project in the future (Stockholm City Plan, 2010).
The Stockholm Pedestrian Plan was arranged as a complementary guideline for the city plan and the urban mobility strategy to attract more people to walk. This guideline describes some current situations that are present in the walking environment in Stockholm. Several goals that the city wanted to achieve by maintaining a pedestrian-friendly environment are increasing the number of pedestrians in the inner city to be at least 60 per cent of the population. Another goal was that 85 per cent of people should consider the streetscape attractive. The overall goal is to provide the opportunity, desire, know-how, and courage to walk. Commuting inside the city should be more than just reaching the destination, but experiencing the journey itself (Stockholm Pedestrian Plan, 2016).
An updated version of the Stockholm City Plan was released in 2014 because of the increased number of residents in the city. It was also updated because of some new challenges in Stockholm, one of which is related to the transport infrastructure. Stockholm's transportation infrastructure faced pressure because of the growing population, while the pedestrian, cycle, and public transport infrastructure also needed serious attention. Thus, providing a space that is accessible and safe for both pedestrians and cyclists still are the main concerns in this version of the city plan. The concept of a pedestrian-friendly environment is broadened under the idea of inviting public spaces. Streets, squares, parks, and corridors should be s well-designed and well-maintained spaces to attract more people. Everyone, including people of different ages, sexes, and disabilities, should have access to those spaces without facing barriers (Stockholm City Plan, 2014).
As mentioned before, the physical condition of the walking environment influences the willingness of people to walk. The sidewalk environment plays an essential role in Stockholm's public spaces as the space where walking activity happens. It also needs to support the values of public spaces such as social, economic, and aesthetical value (Gayary et al., 2016). On the other hand, the walking environment should be a space where people with various conditions could move safely on foot. The City of Stockholm has developed several examples of increased quality sidewalks. One example was the project that focuses on the surface design materials used on the pedestrian surfaces throughout the city. This effort aims to enable designs that affect how pedestrians behave based on the design intervention provided. Another action is how to integrate the street management and maintenance with the pedestrian's perspective. This action aims to reduce the number and severity of pedestrian accidents by evaluating methods and priorities related to street management and street maintenance (Stockholm Pedestrian Plan, 2016).
Furthermore, the concept of a pedestrian-friendly environment is closely related to one of the strategies used in the Stockholm urban development, strengthening the central area of Stockholm. The city centre holds this crucial role in many places since it provides various social, economic, and cultural values. Stockholm is dedicated to creating an attractive public space alongside providing
19 commercial and housing functions to densify the city centre. Those efforts were put in place to not only bring liveability into the inner-city area itself but also strengthening the a connection with the nearby districts (Stockholm City Plan, 2010).
3.3 The e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm Over 2017, e-mobility start-ups dropped thousands of their vehicles in the larger cities in Sweden like Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala, and Lund. Some pioneer companies like Lime and VOI have since expanded the number of e-scooters significantly every year. In one study conducted by The Stockholm Region (2019), there were 9.000 vehicles at the end of October 2019. However, currently because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of vehicles has been decreased. In April 2020, local media in Stockholm reported that eight of ten e-scooter companies were leaving the business and gave no plan for running again in Stockholm (Dagens Nyheter, 2020). As of 18 April 2020, less than 2 000 vehicles were on the street (SVD, 2020). However, during the summer in Stockholm, it could be seen that some of the e-scooter companies were resuming their service even though no report stated the current number of vehicles on the street.
Like in other cities, e-scooters have caused issues regarding road safety and accessibility in Stockholm. Based on the report titled E-scooter's Accidents in the Stockholm city (Olycksanalys Elsparkcyklar i Stockholms stad) released in 2019 by The City of Stockholm, it was reported that the numbers of accidents increased significantly in one year. In 2018, two accidents were reported. That number increased to 132 accidents until the end of August 2019. Most of the accidents happened in the inner- city area because of human factors and streets that were in bad condition. Eighteen per cent of accidents involved another street user, usually a pedestrian (Stockholms Stad, 2019). The accidents that occurred were closely related to the fact that e-scooters compete over space with other modes of transportation, such as bicycles and motorized transport, and pedestrians (Gössling, 2020). Complaints regarding their presence in public spaces were also raised by many inhabitants, like other cities. One consideration was also put into the behaviour of its user, especially when the users did not follow the traffic rules (The Local SE, 2019a).
In 2019, The Stockholm Region also released a study titled Elsparkcyklar i delningsekonomin – Studie med focus på regional utveckling (E-scooter in the shared economy – study with a focus on regional development). This report investigated some issues regarding the e-scooter phenomenon, including the safety and accessibility aspects and how it affected the cycling infrastructure and the public transportation usage. The scope of the study also considered a comparative study regarding e-scooter development in other cities, who the current users are and their motives for using and e-scooter, and what opportunities t the vehicles could bring to city development in Stockholm. This study suggested that e-scooters have some potential as supplementary transportation in the current public transportation system. The vehicles d strengthen the concept of last-mile mobility in the inner-city. For instance, because of the restriction on bringing bicycles inside the subway, people living outside the inner-city area could use their bicycle as first-mile mobility, leave it at the station, and use a rented e-scooter to reach their destination in the inner-city . However, further regulation and planning should put into focus managing the presence of e-scooters in Stockholm and push for collaboration with e- scooters companies (The Stockholm Region, 2019).
E-scooter companies also tried to tackle some debates that occurred because of their business. In December 2019, VOI, as one of the leading e-scooters companies in Sweden, responded to many protests regarding the parking chaos caused by their vehicles. They launched a pilot project for placing
20 parking racks around Stockholm. The racks were placed not only on the sidewalk but also on some private properties owned by the partner companies that are still accessible to the public.
Furthermore, the start-up company also encouraged the city to invest more in providing infrastructure and parking spots to provide better access to a micromobility system. They argued that 70.000 parking spots around Stockholm were evidence that Stockholm is still profoundly dedicated to cars. VOI also added that if the city provided better infrastructure for e-scooters, it would help the city to achieve the ambitious target to make the city more green, clean, and sustainable (VOI Press, 2019). Recently, there was also an initiative from residents to lessen the improperly parked e-scooters in Stockholm. Launched in May 2020, this crowdsourcing based application meant that citizen could directly report to the city an incorrectly parked e-scooter. The maker of this application claimed that this initiative aimed to help the city to on maintain improperly parked e-scooters within specific locations in Stockholm (Mitti SE, 2020)
3.4 Regulation for e-scooter management in Stockholm In 2019, Sweden's Minister of Infrastructure showed his approval for rented e-scooters in Stockholm. Still, more regulations are needed to lessen the impact caused by their presence. (The Local SE, 2019a). Until mid-2020, The Swedish Transport Agency classified e-scooters as bicycles, with classification as a vehicle designed for a maximum speed of 20 km/hour and a motor capacity of 250 watts. A vehicle with a motor capacity of more than 250 watts and goes faster than 20 km/hour cannot use the same regulations as a bicycle. That is why The Swedish Transport Agency suggested the rider understand their type of vehicle by acknowledging what regulations applies to them. Regarding e-scooters, some regulations are needed For instance, the user could ride the vehicle if they are not under the influence of alcohol. The user could drive without a helmet, for people 15 years of age or older. The user could drive at the maximum walking speed on sidewalks or maximum pedestrian speed when driving on pedestrian areas. Also, the user should park it in a way that does not affect people with disabilities or reduced levels of vision (Transportstyrelsen, 2013).
In the current situation, the only way to regulate the e-scooter is through the voluntary commitment outlined in the agreement between the City of Stockholm and e-scooter companies (The Stockholm Regional Council, 2019). Nine companies that operate in Stockholm signed the agreement in May 2019. The agreement consists of several points about perceived safety by recommending the companies actively encourage riders to use a helmet and observe a speed limits on several chosen streets. The agreement also tried to minimize the impact caused by e-scooters in the city's public space by defining several restricted parking areas, such as around the Odenplan station and the Stockholm City Hall. Moreover, the agreement also encouraged collaboration between the city and e-scooter companies to improve access to e-scooter parking spaces (Stockholm Stad, 2019).
Because of the emerging issues regarding e-scooter, the Government gave the Swedish Transport Agency a task to review the current regulations for e-scooters with an expectation that the project would be finalized in March 2021. The effort by the City of Stockholm was in line with the study conducted by Moscholidou and Pangebourne (2020). They argued that the city holds an essential role in guiding the rapid development of smart mobility in the city, of which e-scooter considered as one form. One of the key features essential for shaping and steering smart mobility services is that it should be aligned with the cities' long-term strategies. Considering the presence of e-scooters in sidewalk environment could enrich the current strategies to maintain the pedestrian-friendly environment around Stockholm and the Urban Mobility Strategy. Furthermore, the built environment development
21 could be adapted for the smart mobility system that, some people believe will change the urban landscape in the future.
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4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS
The following chapter explains several theoretical frameworks related to the concept of public spaces, sidewalks, and streets as one form of public spaces. How people perceived their walking experiences and the quality of their built environment through environmental psychology and urban design perspectives will also be elaborated. Then, the principle of designing a sidewalk environment that could enhance the walking experience will be described under the sidewalk design principles from an urban design perspective.
4.1 Public space Tracing back the history of public spaces, these spaces play a crucial role in the life of cities to make the city work. The concept of public spaces has emerged since the first development of human settlements, where at first, public spaces act as spaces to mediate between private and public territories. The discourses on public spaces also vary, which could be discussed based on its physical characteristics until its political, social, and economic activities (Madanipour, 2010). The nature and the character of public spaces also changes accordingly in different cities. In modern cities, public spaces have multiplied and expanded. It takes form as a core of urban society, which is a place that integrating the political, economic, social, and cultural activities, until it becomes an essential aspect for everyday sociability (Madanipour, 2010).
In architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, and planning, public space is mainly understood based on their physical spaces and the relationship between people and space (Mehta, 2014). As a space that possibly acts as a generator of social and cultural interactions on one hand (Sepideh, 2012), public spaces range in its forms. Some of its physical classification including parking lots, the base of the high-rise tower, and the edges of freeways. These spaces are considered as spaces with limited capability to provide social interaction between people. Streets and squares are classified as another form of public spaces, which open up opportunities for the pedestrian to held social activities. On a larger scale, public spaces could act as the centre of the human settlement that constructs a public life. Travel, shopping, playing, meeting, and interaction with other people are some activities that could be classified as functional, social, and leisure activities that are mainly found in public spaces (Mehta, 2014) and could bind a community (Carr et al., 1992). On a smaller scale, public spaces exist in simple forms where people could rest and hang out, or as simple as conducting a visual pause in the street flows through urban areas (Carmona, 2018).
Public spaces could also act as a provider of reasonable access and linkage alongside a sense of comfort and image, viable uses and activities, and intense sociability to strengthen public life (Project for Public Spaces, 2018). However, one of the major criticisms of public spaces in the current context of urban development in modern cities is based on the transition from its meaning as a place that has value and meaning to a more abstract and impersonal space (Madanipour, 2010). Degrading the meaning of public spaces could threaten social activities. Gehl (2011) also described that a city that opens an opportunity where its people could interact with each other is a fundamental concept of living cities. Living cities are always stimulating because they are rich in experiences, which contrasts with lifeless cities. Moreover, maintaining and improving the quality and physical condition of public spaces remains important. It is proven in many cases that improving the physical condition of public spaces could attract more people to conduct social activities in public spaces, such as lengthening of the average time spent outdoors and improving the number of pedestrians.
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4.2 Street and sidewalk as public spaces and its relation to walking Sidewalks, as a form of public space are one aspect of a built environment that needs to be maintained to preserve walking activities. In Sweden and Western Europe and elsewhere, pedestrians have always been naturally part of the urban environments since the 18th and 19th centuries. Walking also a relatively common form of transportation in northern European cities compared to American cities, which are affected by more compact urban structures and sufficient walking infrastructures in Northern European cities (Lindelöw, 2013; Choi, 2012). The acknowledged practice of walking as a mode of transport widens the focus of some research to not only perceive the pedestrian as a transportation unit, which is focuses g on how people arrived at their destination from their origin place. Some studies have started to consider the pedestrian perspective when moving on the sidewalks (Whyte, 2000) and integrate walking as an object of inquiry (Lindelöw, 2013). On the other hand, walking is also strongly associated with its health benefits, as argued by Forward (2003). People tend to walk because they believe that walking could improve their physical health while also contributing to a better environment. Furthermore, some studies were also translated into design guidelines that aimed to provide a better quality of sidewalk design and examine how walking could be made a more vibrant experience (Choi, 2012). The intention is mainly to increase the walking activities and bring benefits to the public good.
In this research, the form of public space that is analysed is the sidewalks. Historically, sidewalks are always placed between the roadways and the buildings while also holding an integral part of the street and urban life (Active Design, 2013). Sidewalks are considered as a unique shape of public space with their intention to not only providing a space where people could encounter others and maintaining social activities but also as a network of mobility (Blomley, 2011). Sidewalks are also defined as an essential component in the urban environment that serves as a corridor for people, goods, and commerce. As public spaces, sidewalks serve as the front steps to the city that activate the street life both socially and economically (NACTO, 2019). As a place where the walking activity takes place, sidewalks also allow a pedestrian to observe and evaluate the sidewalk quality. Micro-level accessibility opens an opportunity for pedestrians to conduct observations and construct their subjective experiences (Blomley, 2011). Several studies that cover the topic on how to provide for better sidewalks as public spaces (e.g., Kirschbaum, et. Al., 2001) showed that people should be the main priority in its planning, design, operation, and management (Project for Public Space, 2018). With this approach, the value of the sidewalk could expand to more than just space where goods and people are moving.
Moreover, sidewalks are also considered as a socially productive place to the extent that it is people- oriented space that could produce an agreeable and enjoyable civic sphere that improves the quality of human well-being through social interaction and engagement (Blomley, 2011). Jan Gehl, as an urbanist who initiated the importance of considering a relationship between humans and the building, also argued that the most important things to consider while designing a built environment is the human encounters that occur with reference to such objects and spaces (Gehl, 2010). In this context, pedestrians are considered as critical aspects of improving built environment quality. Because of their high awareness of places and how they interpret meaning and activities in the city life, especially when compared to people that commute by personal vehicles or public transportation (Choi, 2012). A successful sidewalk is achieved when the competition between the static and the moving elements resolves itself in favour of flow – where static objects do not disturb pedestrian traffic (Blomley, 2011).
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Figure 1: Base street structure (Project for Public Spaces, 2019)
Unfortunately, current design and engineering principles too often fail to recognize that walking is a form of meaning-making, seeking instead to facilitate the ease of walking by providing spaces that are of sufficient size, free of obstacles, effortless to navigate, following direct routes (Wunderlich, 2008). Wunderlich (2008) also added that the sidewalk should be accessible by people with various conditions. Sidewalks should also be designed with an acknowledgement that simple physical barriers could turn into significant obstacles for some specific groups of people (Blomley, 2011). People with disabilities, people with strollers, and the elderly are considered as groups of people who are vulnerable if those obstacles are not considered in the sidewalk evaluation process (e.g., Kirschbaum et al., 2001). Declining walking rates is one issue that is troubling to architects and planners, because it claimed to affect the quality of sense and community (Alfonzo, 2005).
The planning researchers tried to identify some physical-environmental variables that affected the walking activity. One of the questions is, what factors in the built environment affects people's decision to walk. Alfonzo (2005) suggested a model that showed a hierarchy of walking needs, which included factors believed to influence walking activity. There are five levels of needs that are considered the pedestrian's walking decision-making process, which is: feasibility, accessibility, safety, comfort, and pleasure, in that respective order. It means that an extremely comfortable environment would not necessarily force an individual to walk if their need for safety was not fulfilled. This hypothesis could be useful in not only addressing which factor that still lacks to provide in the walking environment but also useful to understand a community problem that could lead to a suggestion for effective policy intervention (Alfonzo, 2005). However, this model also puts an emphasis on the fact that community consists of various individuals that have a different perspectives of which factors they think are most important, hence policymakers should also understand the different contexts carefully. Settings and the characteristics of the population should be understood, and a multilevel approach to program interventions need to be adopted to increase the level of walking in the area (Alfonzo, 2005).
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Figure 2: Alfonzo's model of Hierarchy of Walking (Alfonzo, 2005)
4.3 An environmental-psychology approach to evaluate the sidewalk environment Within psychology, it has been recognized that people are affected by various aspects of their environment. Not only the social environment, which affects, for instance, the social norms, but also equally important, is the physical environment (Clayton, 2012). One branch of the psychology, named environmental psychology, emerges as a self-identified subdiscipline with an early-stage recognition of two things. First, the subjective experience of the environment is a result of a confluence of both social and physical environments, and second, that people and their environment construct a two- way relationship (Clayton, 2012). Churchman (2002) also added that environmental psychology focuses on understanding environmental perceptions and cognitions based on the individual experience of their feelings, beliefs, and attitudes in concepts such as personal space and territoriality.
Furthermore, according to Clayton (2012), there are three significant themes of environmental psychology overlooked by other areas of psychology. First, the importance of understanding people's behaviour in context. Second, a recognition of the relationship between people and their environment. This statement could be described as how people are affected by their environment and how people choose and modify it. Last, the field emphasizes combining environmental psychology with other branches of knowledge, such as planning and architecture (Clayton, 2012).
After decades of emphasis on designing and planning the city based on its function, currently, many urban designers and planners have started to pay more attention to the urban experience. Gehl (2010) considered that a city is more than a functional environment; hence it should be a place of environmental experience (Gehl, 2010). Applying several themes of environmental psychology in the planning and design implementation could be beneficial in providing a better-quality environment to the city. Environmental psychology suggests that it could provide designers and planners with some perspectives and criteria that would satisfy a wide range of cognitive, affective, and behavioural demands that people place on them (Clayton, 2012). One possible way to understand what the city inhabitants' think is allowing them to evaluate their surroundings. An evaluative aspect of the environment is intricately linked to its physical attributes, that sometimes clashes with various environmental problems. Problems could describe as factors that they can see, smell, hear, and feel
26 disturbing their life (Clayton, 2012). Four steps of analysis in the evaluation could be conducted, but in this thesis project, the focus will be on the individual perceptions and evaluations.
The assessment of environmental quality can be viewed in terms of both technical and observational assessment. The technical assessment could also be considered as an objective or expert assessment because environmental quality is evaluated using technical systems as a basis of measurement. However, the observational assessment is considered as a subjective or layperson assessment because of the ordinary language used by the residents to express their evaluation. Since the two different types of assessment can generate a different results while evaluating the same area, even the opposite results, in some cases, it is essential to compare and integrate both assessments in designing and managing the environment (Clayton, 2012).
Hubbard (1992) considers that the direction of urban design in the future will depend on which design professionals recognize the needs, habits, and aspirations of urban residents as the primary aspect to form the city. One of the challenges that is often mentioned is related to how environmental psychologists cannot make their research relevant to a real-life design issues (Hubbard, 1992). This issue occurs because of some differences in the fundamental understanding between environmental psychology and the planning branch, primarily how they work in practice. One example regards the subject of analysis, where planning is more into understanding people in general. At the same time, environmental psychology is a people-centered field related to people and their needs concretely. Those differences, sometimes make the application of environmental psychology in a planning or design process feel irrelevant (Churchman, 2002). However, there is still flexibility offered by the discipline of environmental psychology that could contribute to shaping a better quality built environment. For instance, how the result of the research could contribute to the decision-making process. Put aside the importance of considering the human perspective in the making of the built environment will continue to shape an unsatisfactory human habitat (Hubbard, 1992).
Based on the previously mentioned background, this study will focus on the experience of the pedestrian. This study will examine the pedestrian experience is constructed based on people's walking experiences and how e-scooter affected it. Moreover, both pedestrian and e-scooter user’s experiences will be used to evaluate current sidewalk conditions and how they could be adapted for the e-scooter.
4.4 Improving sidewalk environments from an urban design perspective In architecture and urban design, some studies tried to understand how the human perspective could be used to understand the built environment (e.g., Appleyard & Lintell, 1972) and, thus, gain insights into how to improve the built environment. Research in transportation planning, urban planning, and urban design also widely conducted and complement each other to provide a good quality sidewalk environment. Human factors have started to be considered in sidewalk planning and design. That discussion goes beyond the numbers of and standards for sidewalks. Furthermore, as quoted by Carmona (2010), Tibbalds also mentioned that providing good design will not be enough to make it sustainable. The Management of public spaces is also an essential aspect that could not be separated from the provision of good design in the first place.
Some planning organizations and cities have started to work actively with public space management. One of the guidelines used for managing public spaces by many cities is the Urban Street Design Guide by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). NACTO is an association that consists of 83 major North American cities and transit agencies that aims to exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices while also approaching national transportation issues. The urban street
27 guideline provides the principles and practices that lead to the movement to redesign and reinvest in streets as cherished public space for people and critical arteries for traffic (NACTO, 2019). One of the main keys of the sidewalk design listed here has the sidewalk divided into several zones that are closely related to different activities.
Figure 3: sidewalk zones division (NACTO, 2019)
Besides the division of the street zones, there are also some other criteria that, according to this handbook, need to be fulfilled to provide a good quality sidewalk environment, including the minimum width of each zone to maximize accessibility and some consideration is given to placing the street furniture to minimize obstructions for sidewalk users (NACTO, 2019). One city that implemented some principles from the NACTO's guideline is Jakarta, using their sidewalk planning document entitled Panduan Desain Fasilitas Pejalan Kaki: DKI Jakarta 2017 -2020 (Guidelines for a pedestrian facility: DKI Jakarta 2017-2020) composed by ITDP Indonesia. Sidewalk division and the management of street furniture are some ideas that are put into that guideline to increase walking activities in the various streets around Jakarta. Another guideline that also interesting to look at is the Active Design commissioned by The NYC Department of City Planning om 2013. The Active Design Guideline also broadens the concept of sidewalk design from more than just its physical appearance, but also how it could contribute to the making of a walking experience.
4.4.1 How could sidewalk design enhance the walking experience? The walkable areas of cities are getting more close attention from urban designers because of some significant impacts on commercial vendors and community groups (Newman, 2003). The urban designer also uses the role of sensorial qualities to create better places for pedestrian movement (Mehta, 2008). Placing the human as the priority in street development has meant that cities are
28 urged to balance the need to effectively allow pedestrian circulation with the goal to create safe, active, and interesting public spaces that attract people to use it (Active Design, 2013). Various elements that make up the sidewalk environment should work together positively; hence the sidewalk design could shape a better pedestrian experience on the ground level scale (Glaser et al., 2012). Urban designers are concerned with the quality of the environment to make it a better place to walk, especially the sensorial and experiential pleasure that may be perceived from such environments. This study also in line with a previous study from Alfonzo (2005), which explained that some factors that affected people's decisions to walk also have roles in constructing an individual's walking experience. Mehta also conducted a study that defines various street characteristics that affected user perception and divided them into six categories: feasibility, accessibility, safety, comfort, sensory pleasure, and sense of belonging. Because of the limitations of this study, two categories will be discussed more in this thesis, is how the street characteristics affect the comfort and safety perceptions of the individual.
Perceived safety in any environment is mainly understood as being safe from crime, which is affected by many factors. However, perceived safety from traffic also a critical factor that is related to maintaining walking activity. Some studies use this type of perception to measure the need for physical features to enhance safety from traffic such as separated pedestrian lanes from traffic, safer street-crossing for pedestrians, and curbside parking. Because this research mainly analyses e- scooters as the physical object that affects the walking environment, perceived safety from traffic will not be examined. On the other hand, the level of comfort is also affected by many external factors. In this study, user-perceived comfort will be examined from the physical characteristics such as a sidewalk width and an obstacle-free path (Mehta, 2008).
4.5 Reflection Based on the research in the planning and design scope, it could be concluded that a wide range of external factors in the built environment also affect pedestrian walking activity. These factors affect not only the pedestrian’s decision to conduct a walking activity but also their experience. Based on Alfonzo’s model, it could be seen that there is a hierarchy of factors that affect the pedestrian’s experience to walk. This model could be used to analyse which factors determine the pedestrian’s willingness to walk and how the decision is affected by the presence of e-scooters. The sidewalk design guideline from NACTO will be used as the basis for defining the desirable physical characteristics of each sidewalk environment by combining it with the theory of environmental psychology. Then, the theory of environmental psychology will be used to evaluate the physical condition of the built environment. The pedestrian and e-scooter user’s aspirations will also be considered when looking for suggestions on how the sidewalk environment could be adapted for e- scooters. Those theories would help to answer the research questions posed in this thesis.
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5. METHODS
This chapter presents research designs and methodologies used in this master thesis project to respond to the research questions. The aim and objectives of this research are intended to be captured through a continuous process using various methods. The framework of the empirical study was implemented through direct observation of selected streets in Stockholm. The survey will be used to look for varied responses regarding the e-scooter phenomena of the e-scooter on the sidewalk area, and an in-depth interview will be used to exploratively investigate several individual's experiences based on their responses in the survey. Lastly, this chapter will discuss how the data will be analysed and validated through a triangular method.
5.1 Research approach – exploratory research In order to understand how pedestrians and e-scooter users perceived the presence of e-scooters in the sidewalk environment in Stockholm, the exploratory research approach will be used in this thesis. Exploratory research is a methodological approach mainly concerned with discovery and building theory (Davies, 2011). Most social science research applied this approach because they possess little or no scientific knowledge about the situation they want to examine. Nevertheless, they have reasons to believe that it contains elements worth discovery (Given, 2012). The exploratory researcher does not assemble their project using a specific type of formula; hence, they need to be flexible and pragmatic (Davies, 2012). As explained above, the e-scooter phenomenon is a relatively new with only a few studies that have been conducted. By implementing the exploratory approach, the outcome will be inductively derived generalizations about the situation under study.
5.2 Case Study There will be two study areas selected as the case study for this thesis. The aim of having two different areas is to make a specific location an example of how different characteristics of a sidewalk’s physical environment could contribute to the experiences of pedestrians and e-scooter users. The two selected locations are Odengatan in the district of Vasastaden and Hornsgatan in the district of Södermalm. The selected streets were also part of an existing research project by Danenberg et al. (2018) that analysed the change of retail and entrepreneurship concerning morphology. Below, some information regarding the study areas will be explained.
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5.2.1 Odengatan (Vasastaden)
Figure 4: Map of Odengatan street and the observation area
Odengatan is a street located in Vasastaden, which is one of the mixed-use city centres in Stockholm. The area consists of residential, commercial, and office buildings. In 2016, 70,263 inhabitants resided in this area. It is expected to increase to 82.000 inhabitants by 2040. Because the city centre will be more connected and denser, there is a focus on improving the quality of its public spaces and prioritizing pedestrian and cycle traffic in this district (Stockholm City Plan, 2014).
Figure 5: Situation on the Odengatan street
Odenplan square is placed in this area, and it functions as a hub for local traffic. It also acts as an entrance to the Odenplan station that serves the metro (tunnelbana) and commuter train (pendeltåg). Odenplan station was first opened in 1952 as a part of the extension route between Hötörget and Vällingby. The Metro stops that use this this station are metro number 17, 18, and 19 that serves the green corridor from Skarpnäck (17), Farsta Strand (18), and Hagsätra (19) until Hässelby Strand. The pendeltåg operates in the Odenplan station started in July 2017, as part of the Stockholm City line.
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The expansion aims to make Stockholm’s public transportation more punctual and denser in the future (Stockholm City Plan, 2014). Some bus stations are also placed here and serves routes in different districts in Stockholm, such as Gurmarsplan, Solna, and Sundbyberg.
Because of the strategic location of Odengatan, with the presence of Odenplan station serves as one transportation hub in Stockholm, a higher number of rented e-scooters are spotted around the area.
Figure 6: VOI’s coverage area around Odengatan, as one of the e-scooter company in Stockholm (VOI, 2020)
Related to the Avsiktsförklaring, there is a restricted parking area around the Odenplan station, as shown in the images below. The red line shows the area where e-scooters are prohibited from parking.
Figure 7: Restriction area for parking e-scooter around Odenplan square (Avsiktsförklaring, 2019)
The observation was held on Odengatan and Karlbergsvägen, starting from the Odenplan station until the intersection of Odengatan and Sveavägen. The length of the street considered in the observation is approximately 450 meters. The observation was held on both sides of the streets, for with a duration of 30 minutes on each side. In total, the observation was held for 60 minutes. The purpose of having the different times of observation was to compare different conditions that occur in an after-work time in the evening, when most pedestrians were commuting home, and during the lunch break in the afternoon. During the observation period, the COVID-19 outbreak had still not affected Stockholm; thus, passenger flows were considered average. People were still commuting daily to their workplace or school during specific hours.
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5.2.2 Hornsgatan (Södermalm)
Figure 8: Map of Hornsgatan street and the observation area
Hornsgatan is one of Södermalm’s busiest streets that stretches from Södermalmstorg in the east to Hornstull in the west. As part of the Södermalm district, the 2,300 metre long street is occupied by many working and entertainment functions. It is a mixed-use street that serves as a traffic route, a shopping and business street, as well as a residential street. In terms of the car traffic, the street alongside Hornsgatan is categorized as the main street in Stockholm's inner-city area. It also serves as an important traffic artery on Södermalm (Thurell, 2012). In 2016, 128,684 residents lived in the district of Södermalm and projected to be increased to 148,486 residents by 2040 (Stockholm City Plan, 2014). A high visitor number around the Södermalm area also encouraged future development to preserve the quality of the streets and sidewalks around this area (Stockholm City Plan, 2014).
Figure 9: Situation on the Hornsgatan street
Regarding public transportation services, there is a metro line that passes by this area and three stations located alongside it, Hornstull, Zinkensdamm, and Mariatorget stations. It serves the red corridor, with a train number 13 from Norsborg to Ropsten and number 14 from Fruängen to Morby
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Centrum. There are also several bus stations located on this street that serve several routes, such as bus number four, that serves the route from Gullmarsplan until Radiohuset. Hornsgatan also considers an area that is still covered by the e-scooter services.
Figure 10: VOI’s coverage area around Hornsgatan, as one of the e-scooter company in Stockholm (VOI, 2020)
Based on the Avsiktsförklaring, the area classified as a restricted parking area is not located alongside Hornsgatan street. The restricted area is on Drakenbergsparken, which is located around 100 meters from Hornsgatan Street.
Figure 11: Restriction area for parking e-scooter around Drakenbergsparken, near Hornsgatan street (Avsiktsförklaring, 2019)
The observation was taking place alongside Hornsgatan Street, starting from the entrance to Hornstull Station, which is at the intersection between Hornsgatan and Långholmsgatan. It ends around the entrance of the Zinkensdamm Station, which is at the intersection between Hornsgatan and Ringvägen. The length of the street is approximately 943 meters long. Each observation was held for 60 minutes and observed both sidewalks on the street. The observation was also divided between two timeframes, which were in the afternoon and the evening. The purpose of having different times
34 of observation is similar to the aim of the Odengatan observation and was held before the COVID-19 outbreak in Stockholm.
5.3 Triangulation method One of the challenges of conducting qualitative research is interpreting the subjectivism that gathered as data, where everything can mean everything, into data that could interpreted objectively (Kvale, 1983). Triangulation refers to the practice of using multiple sources of data or approaches in terms of analysing the data to improve the credibility of a research study (Hastings, 2012). Triangulation is also understood as a multimethod focus of qualitative research where the use of multiple methods helps to gain a more in-depth understanding of the issues or phenomena in question. Compared to research using a single method, the use of multiple methods will add an overall richness to the research and a more varied data (Hastings, 2012). The benefits of using a triangulation method are to fill the gap in each method’s limitations. For instance, observation is limited to how the observer might put a focus on one specific aspect of the situation and overlook other aspects that considerably relevant. By using multiple sources of data through triangulation, I could enhance the credibility of the findings by building in the use of multiple sources of data (Hastings, 2012). In this study, the multiple methods used are observation, survey, and interview. The purpose of using each method in this thesis will be explained in the next sub-chapter.
5.4 Research design – a qualitative method In social sciences, exploratory research refers to broad-ranging, intentional, and systematic data collection designed to the maximized discovery of an area of social life (Given, 2012). Therefore, even though there is a method that is widely known as a quantitative one, the main intention is still based on qualitative research. These methods will together help me to gather data which will be complementary to each other to provide a better understanding of the people's experiences and perspectives about the new materiality that is occurring in their surroundings. Combining both methods has been a common procedure in planning research since both the depth and width knowledge are often needed to justify the act (MacCallum, 2019).
Direct observation was chosen as the initial approach to this study. This method will help me to examine real-life activities and conditions that occurred in both locations. By understanding several variables that occurred, they could be used to set out several variables to analyse further in the survey part. A qualitative survey method was then used as the second step in the method for this study. Using this method will help to explore several variables that affected personal experiences that could vary between each person. Since the main purpose of the survey was to observe a diversity of information in the population (Jansen, 2010), I consider this type of survey a qualitative survey. However, Jensen (2010) added that the term of qualitative survey is almost non-existent both in textbooks of general social research methodology. One aspect that differentiates qualitative surveys from quantitative ones is in the empirical diversity that showed in the properties of the members, not the frequencies of categories, even these properties are expressed in numbers (Jensen, 2010). Moreover, the result of the survey will be used as preface data and will be elaborated on more during the qualitative interview. The purpose of this method is mainly to explore individual experiences related to a specific phenomenon that varies among each person.
The purpose of focusing on the qualitative method is because it is a popular method to use in social sciences. A qualitative method can capture and explore data that is not easy to express in numbers. Qualitative research also interested in the terms ‘understood, experimented, or produced’ the world
35 through people’s live, behaviour, and interactions (Gialdino, 2009). Since its ability to describe a phenomenon by showing a relationship between events and its meaning by using participants, this method will be relevant to understand human experience and what their thought ‘means, implies, and signifies’ (Gialdino, 2009). Furthermore, I also have an opportunity to go into considerable depth on the specific topic that is currently being analysed by using this method, depending on how the researcher cultivates the data (MacCallum, 2019). Moreover, it is also gives power to the respondent to act like a co-researcher. In this sense, the interviewer empowers their respondents to point out some crucial features of the phenomenon as they see it, and this stage could open an opportunity to the improvement of the research based on the idea that is not expected by the researcher in the first place (Elliott & Timulak, 2005).
5.5 Research methods – data collection and analysis In order to see the e-scooter phenomenon that affected sidewalk environments in the inner-city of Stockholm, an observation was selected as the first method. Based on the field notes regarding the street typology and various parking conditions for the e-scooters, the result will be used as variables in the questions for the questionnaire. The aim is that the results of the survey could lead to a general response about how e-scooters affected the sidewalk environments. Based on the purposeful and representative samplings of the survey, several samples with different responses will be investigated further through the in-depth interview session.
5.5.1 Observation As the first step of the data collection process, the observation was held with a purpose to make me see and feel the current situation stated in the research questions. The type of observation is a direct observation, wherein this condition, I put no intervention, put no manipulation, and have no control in the observed situation (Mills et al., 2010). During the whole observation, recording was done by taking field notes and combining them with taking photographs. The field notes will help me to capture every detail that occurred during the observation, both on the aspects that were meant to be analysed and some unexpected events that were possibly still related. I took pictures that were complementary to the field notes by showing a clear visualizations of the descriptions written on the paper.
The main focus of this observation was to get insights into the e-scooters in the sidewalk environment and the physical conditions in the selected study area. I needed to be selective about what aspects needed to be captured emphasised by the selected variables. In this research, some variables that were chosen to guide the observation stage are: a. Characteristics of the area The locations of the observation are two streets located in the inner-city of Stockholm. Those areas were chosen based on their similar characteristics, especially the programs and activities. The two selected street locations are Odengatan in the district of Vasastaden and Hornsgatan in the district of Södermalm. Those areas are considered as the main street, which is a street that has a wide range of retail and non-retail activities (Danenberg et al., 2018) and also a place that opens up an opportunity for social interaction (Mehta & Bosson, 2010). Furthermore, those locations are closely related to the concept of ‘centrality’ placed in the inner-city of Stockholm.
36 b. Proximity to public transportation To understand the concepts of e-scooters as first or last-mile mobility and as a complimentary service to public transportation, the availability of public transportation in the area is considered as an essential aspect. This variable is closely related to the number of available e-scooters in the surrounding areas because of the high demand of people possibly using e-scooters after or before commuting with public transportation. c. Streetscape The streetscape is one of the urban design elements. The term is used to describe the nature and the built quality of the street and commonly defined as a design quality of the street and its visual effect (Rehan, 2012). Several elements of the streetscape consist of, for instance, sidewalks, street corners, trees, and landscape strips, and street furnishing. During the observation process, the primary analysis will be put on the physical attributes that ae present on the selected streets. The division of the street, such as the vehicle lane, bicycle lane, and sidewalk, will be one aspect that captured during the observation process to get a better understanding on how e-scooters have caused conflicts among the streetscape elements. Furthermore, streetscape is also closely related to the fact that different contexts could lead to different design interventions; hence, the understanding of the specific physical conditions that are present in the study areas is considered a crucial aspect to analyse in this research. d. Condition of the parked e-scooter Many complaints raised about e-scooters in the media are mainly about the different conditions in which parked e-scooters are left that available on the sidewalk. Because of this issue, observing the condition of parked e-scooters remains essential. Some findings on this observation could be useful to put as questions in the questionnaire, the next step of the data collection process. e. Time of the observation and weather condition Two different time periods were chosen to get a better insight into different activities that occurred in each time period. This variable was chosen with an underlying assumption that number of people that used e-scooters will vary at both times. Hence, it could affect the number of e-scooters that are parked in the selected areas and also produce different conditions for the parked e-scooters. Furthermore, the weather also affected the number of e-scooters used during the specific time; hence this study will also consider this aspect that was noted during the observation.
Observations were conducted for four days in February 2020, which was considered a typical daily life in Stockholm before the COVID-19 outbreak. The weather conditions during the observation time are explained below:
Location Date and Time Temperature Weather Odengatan 7 February 2020, 11.00 - 12.00 0˚C cloudy, windy 10 February 2020, 17.15 – 18.15 6˚C light rain, windy 16 May 2020, 15.30 – 16.30 10˚C warm, little windy Hornsgatan 11 February 2020, 17.30 – 18.30 4˚C clear sky, windy 12 February 2020, 11.30 – 12.30 4˚C sunny, windy 16 May 2020, 17.00 – 18.00 10˚C warm, little windy
Table 1: seasonal condition during observation’s time
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Features were observed by walking through the streets and taking field notes (description of the e-scooter conditions, a sketch of a streetscape typology, sidewalk users, time of observation, and weather conditions) with some additional documentation by taking photographs (images of the various conditions of the e-scooters, streetscape typologies, characteristics of the area, and the nearby public transportation). As mentioned above, the observation was held during the winter in Stockholm. In this winter, there was no snow and ice on the street. Under these conditions, riding e-scooters and walking around the city is still possible. However, the winter conditions caused lower demand for e-scooters because of cold temperatures and windy situations. Thus, the second part of the observation took place in May 2020. The latest observation aimed to get additional insights into the conditions of the parked e-scooters and the different activities of sidewalk users. The weather during the second observation was more delicate, with a temperature above 10 degrees Celsius. Even though the second observation was held during the COVID-19 outbreak, Sweden was not applying a lockdown to ban the residents activity in public spaces. This scenario affected the number of people on the street, which was higher compared to the March or April 2020, when the outbreak first occurred. More people also distinguished using e-scooters during those times, and a higher number of e-scooters were present.
5.5.2 Survey The second step of the data collection is gathering opinions from sidewalk users, which are the pedestrians and e-scooter riders, about the conditions of e-scooters that were found in the observation phase. Furthermore, the survey was also conducted to get a better understanding of respondents’ opinions about the e-scooters in the sidewalk environment. At first, the survey was intended for pedestrians and e-scooter riders that passed through the two selected study areas because of their familiarity with two streets that were selected as the study areas. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak that started at the end of February 2020, an adjustment was applied to the survey method. It affected both the survey’s period and the sampling criteria. The survey was then held at the end of April 2020 through online questionnaires. Instead of focusing on those people frequently using the selected streets or having a familiarity with the sidewalk environment in both areas, respondents were chosen based their frequency and familiarity with the sidewalk environment in the inner-city of Stockholm in general. This adjustment was considered because it was assumed that the condition of e-scooters in the selected study areas also occurs in other inner-city areas of Stockholm. Respondents would have similar opinions of e-scooters in the built environment if the conditions of the parked e-scooters were considered similar.
The selected method is a self-report survey by handing the questionnaire that consists of several related questions under the scope of analysis. Currently, most surveys use a sample of members to measure population characteristics without the purpose of observing each person in the selected population (Jansen, 2010). The survey was a way for me to get various experiences and opinions from among people who have specific experiences, either as a pedestrians or e-scooter users in the Stockholm inner-city. By providing questions related to the necessary personal information of respondents such as gender, residential location and age, it helped me to understand who took part in this survey and how to classify their answers. After classifying the answers, I could use the response to choose a specific person that could show different perspectives about the e-scooters. For the purpose and the nature of the qualitative survey, the samples are usually lower than the survey on quantitative research.
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The length of the survey period was ten days, starting from the 24th of April until the 3rd of May 2020. The survey was distributed through several Facebook groups, with an emphasis on groups that consist of people who reside in the inner-city of Stockholm such as Vasastan, Gamla Stan, Södermalm, and Hammarby Sjöstad and one group for inhabitants that reside in the Sundbyberg area. The survey respondents were divided into two groups, which were pedestrians and e-scooter users. The questionnaire was written in two languages, English and Swedish, to attract more respondents that participate in the survey. At the end of the survey period, 131 respondents had taken part in answering the questionnaire. One hundred twenty-four persons identified themselves as pedestrians and seven persons as e-scooter users. However, the survey for e-scooter users was extended until the 27th of May to get more respondents. In the end, the total respondents for both surveys were 151 individuals. Most of the respondents lived in inner-city areas, such as Norrmalm, Södermalm, and Gamla Stan. The respondents also varied in age, from 18-65 age range, and most of the respondents are classified as female.
The questionnaire for the pedestrians consisted of five main questions and four questions for the e- scooter riders. In both surveys, the first two questions considered the respondents frequency of encountering the sidewalk environment in the inner-city of Stockholm and how the COVID-19 outbreak affects it. The second question was added later as a complementary analysis of how the COVID-19 outbreak affected the walking intensity and experiences of the pedestrians. The questions are a close-ended question with yes and no answers and multiple choices (see appendix 1). The first two questions aim to help me identify the familiarity of the respondents with the study area.
For the pedestrian survey, the next three questions consisted of some questions related to the condition of the parked e-scooters on the sidewalk. The questions were close-ended, which is a type of question with a limited, fixed set of responses. The purpose of having a fixed set of responses is related to the observation results, which is the condition of parked e-scooters encountered on the sidewalk. However, respondents also can add another condition of parked e-scooter based on their experiences through a free-text option. The last question of the pedestrian survey is related to the respondents’ personal views on e-scooters. Thus, the Likert scale was given to have five different scales of agreement (strongly disagree – disagree – neutral – agree – strongly agree). The Likert scale also defines a common type of psychometric scale that is used to measure social attitudes (Roopa & Rani, 2017). On the other hand, the questionnaire for the e-scooter riders consists of four questions with the same two questions in the beginning. The other two questions were put to explore the e- scooter user’s parking preferences and what problem they probably encountered while parking it. Both questions were also close-ended with a free-text option where respondents could explain their parking preferences and their problems further. Details of the questionnaire can be seen in Appendix 1.
The purpose of providing close-ended questions with a fixed set of responses is to avoid getting too many variables in the answers from the respondents. The main idea of the survey is to examine which conditions of the parked e-scooters most affected the pedestrians and the e-scooter user attitude while parking the e-scooter. If the type of questionnaire was open-ended, where the respondents could reply in their own words without constraint by a fixed set of responses, it was worried that many responses will be negative comments that are not related to the questions. This consideration was based on the e-scooter issues itself, which got many negative views from the media and somehow affected the inhabitants. Widely negative views about e-scooters also made me carefully construct questions and responses to this survey. I tried to formulate the questions in as neutral a manner as
39 possible, with no intention to lead the respondent’s perspectives towards specific views. This intention was because I want to elaborate on what I found in the media compared to what I found in the field.
5.5.3 Qualitative interview A survey cannot provide in-depth insights into individual thoughts and experiences. For this study, it was considered important to gain this latter type of empirical material. This material was the main reason behind the decision also to conduct qualitative interviews with a selection of the survey respondents and a strategic selection of experts with unique insights into the e-scooter phenomenon. The type of interview conducted in this study was a semi-structured interview where several key questions are placed to help me define the areas to be explored. The other reason is the flexible approach of this type of interview, where opens up a chance for the elaboration of information that is important to the respondents but has not been considered as relevant to the researcher (Gili et al., 2008). Due to the nature of the interview, it will be a suitable method to explore the view, experiences, beliefs, and/or motivation of individuals on specific matters.
The individuals that were chosen in this study were people that experienced or knowledgeable about the phenomenon that wants to analyse (Palinkas et al., 2015). The individuals were selected from the survey’s respondents that voluntarily willing to discuss the research topic further. The respondents were asked at the end of the questionnaire about their willingness to discuss these issues further through an interview session. From 131 pedestrians, 32 respondents said that they were willing to be involved in the interview session. Among them, six pedestrians and one e-scooter rider were available and took part in the interview. The initial plan for the interview was conducted as a go-along interview. This method allows for a natural conversation that does not only rely on the memory and the sentiment of the participant but also on observations that the participants see, hear, and sense in the immediate environment (Burns et al., 2019).
Nevertheless, because of the social distancing recommendation for the COVID-19 outbreak, most of the interviews were held online. Five interviews were conducted through zoom as a video meeting platform, one interview was conducted via a telephone call, and one was conducted through a face- to-face interview. For interviews that were held through a video call, respondents were showed various photographs about the e-scooter conditions and sidewalk environments on the selected streets. The duration of the interview varies from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Five of the interviews were held in English, and two were conducted in Indonesian. Each interviewee also needs to fill in a consent form that consists of several points about the procedure during the interview.
Furthermore, the interview was not only conducted between pedestrian and e-scooter users. The purpose of the study also intended to capture their expectations of how the physical quality of the sidewalk environment could adapt to e-scooters and minimizing conflicts with another sidewalk user. The analysis will be evaluated from the urban design perspective; hence the expert’s opinion will be considered as an essential aspect to be added in this study. Ewing and Handy (2009) have argued that measuring urban design qualities might be challenging for those people who have no professional knowledge in related field. Hence, to get more stable input on this topic, it was considered necessary to also interview experts who are trained to conceptualize issues regarding urban mobility and urban/sidewalk design. With this idea in mind, I conducted interviews with experts from The Swedish Pedestrian Association (FOT) and architects from the architectural office, Theory into Practices.
The Swedish Pedestrian Association (Fötgängarnas Förening) is a non-governmental and politically independent organization that promotes livable spaces for pedestrians. FOT advocates for the needs
40 of the most vulnerable road users, including children, the elderly, and disabled, and promote a better design of urban spaces to accommodate the needs more than just a surface for cars (FOT, 2020).
Anna Sundman and Magnus Björkman, from Theory into Practice are architects from an architectural office located in Stockholm, Sweden. TIP has been involved in one project entitled Mo-Bo, where it aimed to explore how architecture could support the transition to a more sustainable society. The main focus is examining the possibility of how the sharing economy and mobility services could lead to innovative architecture.
It is important to present that not all the expert’s interviews happened according to the initial plan. I contacted some other potential experts and stakeholders such as The Swedish National Cycling Advocacy Organizations (Cykelfrämjendet), Traffic Administration (Trafikkontoret) in the City of Stockholm, and VOI (one of the e-scooter companies in Stockholm). However, they did not reply to the invitation. The employee of VOI that I contacted answered the first e-mail that I sent with several explanations regarding the regulation issue but did not respond to the second e-mail about the interview invitation.
5.5.3.1 Interview Design Before the interview, I was preparing the interview questions divided into three sets of interview guides (see Appendix 2). Each interview guide consists of a question specifically for the pedestrians, the e- scooter riders, and the experts. In defining the interview questions, the three research questions were used to define different themes for each interview question. It also helped me to construct the structure of the interviews. Because the semi-structured interview method was chosen, some additional knowledge was needed to enrich the conversations due to the possibility of discussing issues from a broader perspective and providing a sense of familiarity so that the interviewee that could be useful in Figure 12: example on how research questions helps in defining the interview questions (Kvale, 1938) developing additional thoughts. Additional knowledge also helps define follow-up questions and additional questions where it was considered important to explore the deeper answer.
Moreover, an iterative process was performed in the interview. Each interview was transcribed and analysed before conducting the next interview. It helped me to review and improve the interview design to be more relevant to each interviewee while preparing the interviewer for several possibilities of more efficient follow-up questions.
The questions that are asked during the interview were divided into several parts that consisted of different themes. Each theme was designed to answer research questions of this thesis, which are:
- Interviewee’s perspective about e-scooters in general - How the presence of e-scooters affected the walking experiences in the specific sidewalk condition
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- The Interviewees' evaluations of sidewalk conditions on the selected streets
However, the semi-structured interview approach opened the opportunity for the interviewer to get additional thoughts about the e-scooter phenomenon, including the behaviour aspects and the regulations. Furthermore, since the interview was held between different groups of subjects, the interview analysis will be explained as a discussion between each group and the interviewer. In each of the themes, three voices from each group will be presenting. The thematic grouping will help me to analyse the result using a meaning categorization approach. This type of analysis implies that the interview is coded into categories (Kvale, 1938).
In the end, the interview was analysed based on six categories/themes, which are: - Thoughts about the e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm, - Perspectives about e-scooter in general, - The concept of e-scooter as first or last-mile mobility, - How e-scooters affected the pedestrian walking experience, - The expectations towards a condition of the sidewalk environment due to the presence of e- scooters, - The expectation of regulations to better manage the e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm.
5.6 Ethical Consideration Because this thesis is analyzing personal experiences which occurred in their surroundings, ethical considerations need to be made for the subjects being analysed, both the survey respondents and the interviewees. The role of the researcher must also be considered.
During the observation, the principle of direct observation was followed. Some of the principles are the researcher shall not bring any intervention to the object that observed and take notes based on the condition that occurred in the field. Field notes and photographs were used to avoid any subjective interpretation of the situations observed. During this stage, the researcher did not a hypothesise about the present condition.
While in the survey process, the participants were asked some questions related to the conditions encountered during the observation phase. The questions started to explore some personal experiences and opinions about specific conditions on the sidewalk environment because of the presence of e-scooters. Since the survey’s purpose was to gather several possible variables, personal data was needed at this stage. Respondents need to fill out personal data only about the area in which they are living, gender, and age. Those variables were chosen based on the possibility of conducting the analysis and selecting a sample for the in-depth interview session. All data submitted by respondents will not be used outside of this research study, and the researcher will keep the information confidential. The respondents were informed about this issue and written consent was obtained on the first page of the survey.
The interview was considered a personal interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee, where there is a possibility that the knowledge produced could affect our understanding of the human situation (Kvale, 1938). During the preparation for the interview, I prepared an ethical guideline that could be used to maintain the information received during the interview process. The ethical guideline consists of informed consent, confidentiality, and consequences (Kvale, 1938). In this study, each interviewee will be anonymous and described using a code in the results and analysis part.
As explained above, the e-scooter phenomenon was mainly seen negatively because of the various news reports, both online and in the newspaper. It could be understood if interviewees would divide
42 between a person that is pro towards it and the others will be a group of people who against it. In several interviews, respondents expressed a strong hatred, critique, and disagreement about the presence of e-scooters in the sidewalk environment. If this negative attitude was the case, I adopted an understanding attitude by listening to their opinion, but at the same time stayed distant and led the conversation back into the interview questions. Furthermore, I also tried to balance their perspective by giving another perspective – for instance, some positivity for e-scooters to tackle some urban problems.
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6. RESULTS
This section includes findings from the three different methods that were used in this thesis project. The data collection aims to gather evidence and analyse some interrelated aspects regarding the e- scooter phenomenon in Stockholm. First, the results from the observations mainly reveal the findings regarding the conditions of parked e-scooters, the behaviour of the e-scooter user, and the physical street characteristics. Second, the survey reveals the findings from the observations with general data from pedestrians and e-scooter users. Finally, the results from qualitative interviews are used to explore the pedestrian experience more in-depth and elaborate on it with some views from the experts about the issue of e-scooters on Stockholm's sidewalks
6.1 Observation The observation was held in two locations, in Odengatan and Hornsgatan. The variables that guided the observation process are presented below and are followed by the empirical findings.
6.1.1 Odengatan, Vasastaden The time of the observation was Friday, 7th February 2020, Monday, 10th February 2020, and Tuesday, 16th May 2020. The weather during the first observation period was slightly cold and windy because of winter. The temperature was around 0-6˚ Celsius. On the other hand, the temperature during the second observation period was warmer because the weather was transitioning to summer.
Figure 13: (left) The Intersection between Odengatan and Karlsbergsvägen as the starting point of the observation (right) The Intersection between Odengatan and Sveavägen as the endpoint of the observation
44 a. Streetscape typology
Figure 14: Delimitation of the observation area in Odengatan
Alongside the observation area, two different types of streetscape illustrated through street sections below:
Figure 15: Section A of Odengatan Street
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Figure 16: Section B of Odengatan Street
Section A of the street showed a narrower sidewalk compared to the size of section B. The cycle lane condition is similar in both sections, which is side-by-side with the traffic lane that consists of the car and public transportation (bus) traffic. The nearest station is Odenplan station that served the subway (tunnelbana) and pendeltåg network. There are also some bus stops around the station.
b. Parked e-scooter condition During two observation periods, it could be concluded that e-scooters were parked in several ways. The conditions have been categorized as follows: upright and well parked, falling, attached to street furniture, in the middle of the sidewalk, in front of the building façade, and parked in/near the bike rack. Those conditions were captured through images below:
(a) upright and well parked (b) falling (c) near the street furniture
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(d) Parked in the middle of (e) Laying on the building (f) Parked in/near the the sidewalk façade bike rack
Figure 17: The various conditions of parked e-scooters in Odengatan
The condition of parked e-scooters that mostly presence was upright and well-parked, located near the station entrance and the side of the sidewalk. Other conditions, such as e-scooters falling and parked in front of the building, were also present in a small percentage of cases. Those conditions also identify as not affecting the pedestrian movement. However, one condition where the e-scooter affected the pedestrian movement was when it is laying/parked in the middle of the sidewalk. One condition like that occurred during the afternoon observation, and it was spotted that one person with a stroller needed to manoeuvre to avoid bumping into the e-scooter.
During different times of observations, all the conditions of parked e-scooters described above were present. The only thing that differs was the number of e-scooters in the street. More e-scooters were spotted more during the evening observation with the warmer temperature. One interesting part occurred during daytime observation of the first period of observation (7/2). It was spotted that there was a man that worked for one of the e-scooter companies arranging the inappropriately parked e- scooters for almost half an hour. He moved e-scooters to the front of the building that were parked in the middle of the sidewalk and laying on the street furniture. c. The behaviour of the e-scooter user Most of the e-scooter users were riding in the provided bicycle lane on two observations time. However, a few riders were still spotted riding on the sidewalk. Most of them who were riding on the sidewalk were spotted around the Odenplan station. In comparison, eight e-scooter riders moved into the bicycle lane during the afternoon observation and thirteen riders in the evening observations. On the other hand, three e-scooter riders moved onto the sidewalk during the afternoon and two riders in the evening. It could also be concluded that the number of the e-scooter riders were higher during the evening observations, when the temperature was warmer. Most of the e-scooter riders rode as single riders. A few were also spotted with two passengers on the vehicle, an adult and their child.
6.1.2 Hornsgatan, Södermalm The observations were held on Tuesday, 11th February 2020, Wednesday, 12th February 2020, and Tuesday, 16th May 2020. Because of winter, the weather during the first observation had colder
47 temperatures and wind, with sunshine in the afternoon observation. The temperature was around 0- 4˚ Celsius. The second period of observation was conducted when the temperature was warmer with a slight breeze.
Figure 18: (left) The Intersection between Hornsgatan and Långholmsgatan as the starting point of the observation (right) The Intersection between Hornsgatan and Ringvägen at the endpoint of the observation a. Streetscape
Figure 19: Delimitation of the observation area in Hornsgatan
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Alongside the observation area, three different types of streetscape are illustrated through street sections below.
Figure 20: Section A
Figure 21: Section B
Figure 22: Section C
Section A and B of the street showed a wider traffic lane consisting of car and bus traffic. It also has a separate cycle lane, where a buffer is placed between the cycle lane and the traffic lane. However, a pedestrian lane is only separated by a different height from the cycle lane. A slightly different condition was present in section C, where the traffic lane is narrower compared to previous streets, and it has direct contact with the cycle lane. The sidewalk size also narrower compared to the sidewalk
49 in sections A and B. There are two nearest stations alongside the street, Hornsgatan station and Zinkensdamm station. Some bus stops are also placed throughout the street.
During the observations, the number of e-scooter users is considered low. There were no e-scooter users in the nighttime observation. All of the e-scooter users that were spotted during the observation were riding in the cycle lane. b. Parked e-scooters It could be concluded during two periods of observation that e-scooters were parked in several ways. The conditions have been categorized as follows: upright and well parked, falling, attached to street furniture, in the middle of the sidewalk, in front of the building façade, and parked in/near the bike rack. Those conditions were captured through images below.
(a) upright and well parked (b) falling (c) near the street furniture
(d) Parked in the middle of the (e) Laying to the building façade (f) Parked in/near the bike rack sidewalk
Figure 23: The various conditions of parked e-scooters in Hornsgatan
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Most parked e-scooters were upright and well-parked, located near the station entrance or at the side of the sidewalk. Other conditions, such as falling over or parked in front of the building were also present in a small percentage of cases. Those conditions were also identified as not affecting the pedestrian movement. However, one condition where e-scooters affected the pedestrian movement was when one e-scooter was laying on the building wall and disrupting the movement of people that went inside or outside the building.
During different times of observation, all conditions of the parked e-scooters above were present. The only thing that different was the number of e-scooters placed in the street. The number of e-scooters was higher during the evening observation and when the temperature was warmer. However, the number of e-scooters placed throughout Hornsgatan also less than the number of e-scooters in Odengatan. There were around 14 vehicles during the afternoon observation and 22 vehicles during the evening observation. c. The behaviour of e-scooters rider All of the e-scooter riders that were spotted riding the vehicle were moving in the bicycle lane rather than on the sidewalk. The number of e-scooter riders around the Hornsgatan area also relatively low compared to the Odengatan area. In both of the observation periods, just less than 15 e-scooter users were recognized.
I could conclude from the observation that there were several conditions of parked e-scooters alongside different characteristics of the sidewalk environment. The conditions of parked e-scooters could be used as a variable in the survey questions and I could for various responses regarding how it affects pedestrian walking experiences. Then, it could be further examined how the physical characteristics played crucial roles in e-scooter users' behaviour, especially their preferences for parking the vehicle after finishing their rides.
6.2 Survey The survey was aimed at pedestrians, who are aware of the presence of e-scooters in the inner- city of Stockholm, and e-scooter users that were riding in the inner-city. The first part of the survey was sent through an online survey platform and opened for one and a half weeks starting from 24th May until 3rd June 2020. The total respondents were 131, 126 respondents took part in the pedestrian's survey, and seven respondents took part in the e-scooter user's survey. Because of the low number of e-scooter users that took part in the first survey, the e-scooter user's survey was extended until 27th May 2020. There were another 18 respondents that took part in the survey. In total, 25 e-scooter users took part in the Figure 24: type of sidewalk user survey, and the total number of respondents became 151 individuals.
Regarding the demographic factors of the respondents, most of the respondents are classified as female and between 25-34 years old. Most of the respondents are also living in inner-city Stockholm.
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Nevertheless, in this stage of data collection, the specific locations where respondents live could not be identified. The survey was written in two languages, Swedish and English. Most of the respondents took part in the Swedish version. Below, both surveys are explained separately.
6.2.1 Pedestrians As explained above, most of the respondents took part in the pedestrian survey. In total, there were 126 respondents, and most of them classified as women. Most of the respondents also live in the inner-city.
Classification N % Gender Male 35 27.8 Female 90 71.4 Prefer not to say 1 0.8 Living Area Inner-city area 83 15-20 mins commute time from an inner-city area 32 21-30 mins commute time from an inner-city area 8 More than 30 mins commute time from an inner- 3 city area Age 18-24 6 25-34 38 35-44 18 45-54 31 55-64 24 65-74 8 75+ 1
Table 2: Pedestrian classification
In terms of walking habits, most of the respondents take a walk in the inner-city more than five times per week, and many of them were frequently passed by the Odengatan area. Almost all the respondents were aware of the presence of e-scooters on the street and in the sidewalk environment.
Figure 25: pedestrian walking’s frequency Figure 26: percentage of pedestrian visiting study areas
52 a. Condition of the parked e-scooter The first part of the pedestrian survey consists of several questions about which conditions of e- scooter that the respondents had encountered in the street and sidewalk environment. According to the result, most pedestrians considered that the five conditions were frequently present in the sidewalk environment, namely: e-scooter parked near the bus platform or station entrance; e-scooter parked near street furniture, e.g., street lamp, bench, tree, and garbage cart; e-scooter parked in the middle of the sidewalk, e-scooter leaning toward the building wall, and e-scooter laying in the middle of the sidewalk. The graphics below show the percentage of all responses.
Figure 27: condition of e-scooters that mostly encountered by pedestrian
In this question, it was possible to state another e-scooter condition through the free text response for some other condition that they had encountered. Some of the respondents mentioned that they had also come across circumstances where e-scooters were left in the cycle lane, in the park, on public staircases, near grocery stores or private housing, and even in the forest or thrown into the water.
53 b. The perception towards the presence of e-scooter on the sidewalk environment The second part of the survey consisted of questions regarding the respondent’s experiences and attitudes regarding the presence of e-scooters on the sidewalk environment. A majority of respondents showed discontent about the presence of e-scooters. The reasons varied but most cases were related to the different types of impact the e-scooters cause. The graphics below show the percentages of each reaction.
Figure 28: pedestrian’s thought towards e-scooters in sidewalks environment
Based on the graphics, a large number of respondents considered that e-scooters disrupt the movement of pedestrians. The disruption applied to both pedestrians and people that have mobility issues, such as the elderly, people with strollers, and people with physical impairments. Some of the respondents showed their disagreement, as stated below:
För många elsparkcyklar på trottoarerna. Slarvigt parkerade. Lvägen för synskadade (translation: Too many e-scooters on the sidewalks. Parked carelessly… in the way of people with visual impairments)
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Elsparkcyklar utgör en stor fara för personer med synnedsättning/blindhet och för äldre, rullstolsburna och barnvagnar. De är även störande för andra gångtrafikanter. (translation: E-scooters are dangerous for people with visual impairments/blindness and the elderly, people in wheelchairs and with strollers. They are also disturbing for other pedestrians.
While others also suggested that the main problem is not the e-scooters, but the users, because of their lack of responsible behaviour, as quoted below:
Jag tycker dem är bra, men brukarna har inget vett…. (translation: I think they are great, but the users have no sense…)
Är det inte mitt så bryr en sig inte... det är tråkigt att de har den synen, respekt är ett ord jag tycker borde finnas med i användandet, varför inte använda dem som det vore ens egen. (translation: If it is not mine, then I do not care. Sadly, some people have that view. It would be better if people could use them with more respect, why not use it as if it was your own [vehicle]) c. Conclusion Based on the survey and some comments that were filled in by some respondents, it could be concluded that pedestrian thoughts about the presence of e-scooters are divided into two opinions. One group of the respondents are a people who agree with the presence of e-scooters, who could see some benefits of it even though they did not resist mentioning some negative impacts that are caused by it. On the other hand, the other group is people that disagree with or are disturbed by e- scooters’ appearance in the city. The latter group also has the larger percentage based on the respondents of this survey. Their concern focuses mainly on the behaviour of the e-scooter user, which is identified as a lack of respect for other sidewalk users. Based on the several variables of pedestrian thoughts about the e-scooters on the sidewalk environment, some pedestrians are interviewed for a more in-depth explanation of their reaction.
6.2.2 E-scooter user Twenty-five respondents classified themselves as e-scooter users. To specify the targeted group of respondents, which is an e-scooter user that rented their vehicle, an additional question was put in the second period of the e-scooter survey. Four of the e-scooter users said that they brought their vehicle inside the house or inside the building of their destination, which indicates that those respondents own a private vehicle. Therefore, their response will not be further included in this thesis. Therefore, only 21 respondents answered in this section. The background of the respondents is explained in the chart below:
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Classification N % Gender Male 8 38.1 Female 13 61.9 Prefer not to say - Living Area Inner-city area 13 15-20 mins commute time from an inner-city area 6 21-30 mins commute time from an inner-city area 1 More than 30 mins commute time from an inner-city 1 area Age 18-24 2 25-34 7 35-44 3 45-54 7 55-64 1 65-74 - 75+ 1
Table 3: e-scooter users’ classification
Most of the e-scooter users took a ride less than two days in a week. The number of responses was similar for each study area.
Figure 29: e-scooter users’ riding frequency Figure 30: percentage of e-scooter users visiting study areas a. E-scooter user parking preferences The survey for the e-scooter user was complementary to the pedestrian survey because it aimed to examine the e-scooter user's perspectives on the sidewalk environment. The first question of the survey is about their preferences for parking the vehicle after finishing the ride. Their responses are shown below:
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Figure 31: e-scooter users’ parking preferences
The second question of this survey confirmed whether they ever encountered a problem while parking the vehicle. Most of the respondents stated that they never have a problem while parking their e-scooter. One of the common responses was because e-scooter users believe that they could park it everywhere, as long as it is still in the coverage area of the e-scooter service.
Är ju bara att slänga den var som helst. Behöver inte bry mig om några som helst konsekvenser (translation: Just toss it somewhere. I do not have to bother or worry about any consequences)
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A few of them also stated that the parking problem is not related to the physical aspect, but more about the geofencing technology applied by the e- scooter companies. The limitation means that the e-scooter users could not park it in some places, as quoted from one respondent in a free text answer:
Voi har endast parkering på vissa zoner (translation: VOI [an e-scooter company that operates in Stockholm] – only have parking areas in some specific zones)
An interesting part of this survey was that many e- scooter users claimed that they always parked their vehicles in places that did not affect other Figure 32: problems encountered by e-scooter sidewalk users. Almost all (86%) of the 21 users while parked the vehicle respondents never parked e-scooters in the middle of the sidewalk. Some of them also showed preferences to park it in ways that do not affect other sidewalk users, as stated in quotes below:
Parkerar där det finns bra plats, istället för att prompt ställa den där jag vill parkera. Kan vara ett kvarter bort. (translation: I park it where there is a good place, instead of just parking it wherever I want to put it. It can be a block away)
b. Conclusion Concerning the pedestrian survey there is one interesting factor to analyse from the e-scooter user perspective, which is related to their behaviour while using the e-scooter. Even though most of the respondents stated that they never parked their e-scooter in ways that affects other sidewalk users, many pedestrians claimed that they still frequently saw e-scooters on the sidewalk. A few e-scooters were also spotted parked in ways that affect pedestrian users, such as laying in the middle of the sidewalk, consistent with results from the observation. This evidence that indicated there are still some e-scooter riders that behave irresponsibly on parking their e-scooter, in line with the pedestrian statement that e-scooter users’ behaviour is the factor that bothers them the most. Furthermore, there is also an opportunity to examine the e-scooter users’ perception about the built environment conditions that they used explicitly while riding an e-scooter.
6.3 Qualitative interview In the last step of empirical research, the aim was to not only explore the personal experiences and attitudes of pedestrians but also to access the perspectives and insights of experts that have a professional view on the issues of e-scooters and smart mobility.
Each of the interviewees from the pedestrian and e-scooter user side has a varied background in gender, age, living area, and walking frequency on two streets. The various backgrounds of the interviewees was relevant to the intention of this study, which is examining diverse walking experiences that are affected by the presence of e-scooters. Most importantly, they also have
58 different perceptions and attitudes about e-scooters on the sidewalk environment. Details of each interviewee have been in the table below:
Code Gender Age Living area Notes P1 Female 63 The inner-city area of Originally from Sweden Stockholm P2 Female 54 15-20 min commute time from Originally from Sweden the inner-city area P3 Female 47 The inner-city area of Originally from Sweden, Stockholm recently moved to the inner- city area. Also, an e-scooter user P4 Female 40 The inner-city area of Moved to Stockholm 10 years Stockholm ago P5 Male 28 The inner-city area of Moved to Stockholm 2 years Stockholm ago P6 Female 36 The inner-city area of Moved to Stockholm 5 years Stockholm ago P7 Male 29 21-30 min commute time from Moved to Stockholm 3 years the inner-city area ago Also an e-scooter user
Table 4: interviewee classification
During the data analysis process, six themes were identified. Each of the themes will be explained through a discussion that gives consideration to the pedestrian, e-scooter user, and expert perspectives. It will structure the empirical analysis:
- Thoughts about the appearance of the e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm, - Pros and cons of e-scooter, - The concept of e-scooter as first or last-mile mobility, - How e-scooter affected the pedestrian walking experience, - Expectation towards a condition of the sidewalk environment because of the presence of e- scooters, - What regulation is needed to manage the e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm? a. Thoughts about the presence of the e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm The phenomenon of dockless e-scooters started to occur in Stockholm around 2017, and some issues arose because of their existence. The interviewee has a different awareness of the first time they encountered some e-scooters on Stockholm's streets. Some of them stated that they were aware of their presence from the first time they were put on the streets. At the same time, other interviewees started to realize their appearance first when the media reported several issues that had occurred. One of the interviewees added that he first encountered e-scooters when some vehicles were placed in front of his office, in inner-city Stockholm.
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“Probably the reason why I noticed them [e-scooters] is because there will be five or six e-scooters put in front of my office every day. Right in front of the entrance. Then after that, I started to notice them everywhere, and now you can just find them [e-scooters] everywhere” (interviewee P5)
Mostly, the interviewee was questioning the purpose of rented e-scooters in Stockholm's streets. Especially while Stockholm also had many station-based bicycles placed in the city. The differences between the two types of vehicles are the flexible approach that the e-scooters have which did not apply for the rented bicycles.
“I remember that I thought it was a really strange time for [e-scooters] to came out because they [the City of Stockholm] already had Stockholm city bike… “ (interviewee P4)
The first reaction about the appearance of e-scooters varied among each interviewee. One of the pedestrians that also considers herself as an active e-scooter user stated that she already liked it since its first appearance in 2017. Some others were confused about not only the purpose of the vehicle itself but also why e-scooters were scattered in so many places on the sidewalk. At that time, one of the interviewees realized that there could be some potential problems because of the increased number of e-scooters utilised every day.
“Well… what is that? For what purpose? Then we talked about how people just leave them everywhere, so they [e-scooters] are problems for those walking in the area. We talked about blind people, and how it is dangerous for them when people just left e-scooters on the pavement” (interviewee P2)
The president of the pedestrian organization also conveyed other thoughts. She explained that from the pedestrian point of view, the presence of e-scooters was threatening the pedestrian walking activity. She expressed her concern about how the city still, according to her, provides too much space for cars and does not give enough space for the pedestrian. According to her, prioritizing e-scooters should not be considered beneficial for the pedestrian. Similarly, the architect that was also interviewed about this issue showed an understanding of why some people might question the purpose of the scooters. She mentioned that since the e-scooter is a new phenomenon, many people still do not consider e-scooter as an option for them to travel. b. Pros and cons of e-scooter The number of e-scooters in Stockholm has so far increased every single year, before the outbreak of COVID-19 . More and more vehicles in various locations are provided by different companies. As time goes by, people's perspectives about their appearance vary. In this research, I could identify that the interviewees had very different ideas about this topic. Among the interviewees, I have met one person that is extremely negative about e-scooters, one person that totally into it, and the rest consider themselves neutral since they see the two sides of it. The interviewees consider that their perspective about e-scooters is not changing from the one that they had while encountering it for the first time. Furthermore, various media reports have had a role in forming the interviewee's perceptions of e- scooters, especially when it comes to their adverse effects. Moreover, one of the interviewees also stated that safety was an aspect that made him hesitant to use e-scooters as daily transportation. He prefers walking instead.
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“Another reason would be they [e-scooters] do not feel super safe to use, especially if you do not have any protection or anything. So, I do not feel confident about taking it and driving around on the sidewalk and the bike lane with no helmet or anything” (interviewee P5)
On the other hand, all the interviewees also expressed an awareness of the impact which scooters caused. They were all aware of some news stories such as accidents that, like London and Helsinborg, lead to deaths. Other news also related to many complaints that are brought up by other sidewalk users on how e-scooters affect the walking activity or disrupt the visual quality of the sidewalk. Some of the interviewees stated that the media reports influenced their negativity about the e-scooter. While the rest said that as long as the e-scooters do not cause harm to them, they will still see it as a good addition in Stockholm.
Many interviewees were also aware of the benefits claimed by the e-scooter companies. One example is how it could be a sustainable alternative for transportation in Stockholm, especially compared to using a private car. However, the sustainability aspects of e-scooters are still debatable. Only limited research has been conducted to analyse this issue. One of the interviewees mentioned that it could be one option to enhance the sustainable transportation system in Stockholm if e-scooters could have a longer lifespan. As mentioned in one of the previous studies, the ideal lifespan period of an e-scooter to be considered sustainable is around 9.5 months (Moreau et al., 2020). Nevertheless, the average lifespan of the e-scooter is currently 28-30 days. One factor that has affected the short the lifespan was the behaviour of the users that sometimes is considered careless (Moreau et al., 2020).
Furthermore, most interviewees see the e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm as a temporary trend and not going to last. One opinion was because they caused many problems in the built environment, and people will avoid riding them because they did not feel safe. Another opinion that is questioning the continuity of this business recently was related to how the e-scooter companies manage their businesses and make it profitable in the future. The second opinion was related to the fact that many e-scooter companies were out of business since April 2020 because of the current pandemic that affected user demand. The remaining two companies also put out fewer vehicles after many people went back to the street, and no report has been released yet about the number of riders during the pandemic. However, some interviewees see that the pandemic could affect the travel behaviour of many residents because people tend to avoid public transportation. Some interviewees thought commuting with an e-scooter could be a safer option to commute in Stockholm in the situation. c. The concept of e-scooter as a first or last-mile mobility Most interviewees agree that e-scooters could be a good solution for people who want to reach a destination in a short time. That is why most of them do not see e-scooters as a daily transportation option. Some were heavily keen on public transportation, before they switched to cycling or walking after the COVID-19 outbreak. Two of them said they chose walking as their daily transportation mode, while one person mentioned that she frequently drives her own car. Two e-scooter users also showed an agreement with those statements. One of the e-scooter users told about his experience while deciding to use an e-scooter because he was already late to attended classes and a walking will take a longer time. On the other hand, another e-scooter user also mentioned that she used it if she was tired and did not want to use a taxi to reach her destination. Furthermore, one of the pedestrians also suggests that e-scooters could be a fun option to travel inside the city.
“I take that [e-scooter] sometimes when I am tired or if I am in a hurry and I do not want to go by taxi, so I took the VOI [e-scooter company in Stockholm] instead” (interviewee P4)
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“At one point, I was already late, and the class is in a building that is far from the station. Then I saw an e-scooter. I just subscribed to it, and I rode it because it is already too late to go to the class when I took a walk” (interviewee P7)
Concerning the emerging issue of e-scooters as first or last-mile mobility, most of the interviewees had never heard of this concept before. They never heard about the idea of using e-scooters as a complementary service before or after using public transportation, including a statement made by the e-scooter companies. After explaining the concept of "first and last mile" during the interview, some of the interviewees showed a positive attitude towards it while others expressed doubtfulness.
One of the interviewees mentioned that it could be useful to have it as a complement to public transportation as long as the city supports that intention. She compared it with the presence of bicycles in the city, and she argued that the city supported bicycles for a long-time. It has been widely known, Stockholm has the ambition to increase the number of cyclists by 20% in 2030 (Stockholm Urban Mobility Strategy, 2012) and the city provided more bicycle infrastructure to attract more cyclists. However, she felt that if the company claimed some benefits of using e-scooters for their own benefit, she would see it as a marketing campaign instead.
“Then, with the bicycle, it is obvious that the Stockholm city wanted us to use them. But here they are [e-scooter] companies, like VOI, that no one ever heard about them before. So, you do not trust them. You do not know what they want. If they can inform people in Stockholm in a better way, maybe more people will trust them. Because for now, they do not seem serious” (interviewee P2)
One interviewee that showed a positive attitude toward the first and last-mile concept for the e- scooter said that it could be useful to use in the inner-city, instead of using a private car. Even though she is not a regular user of public transportation, the idea of substitute car usage with e-scooters in inner-city Stockholm is a good idea. As someone that recently moved from the suburban area, she used to drive her own car to commute from her home to her workplace in the city. However, she griped about the traffic and the limited parking spaces for the car. She claimed that using an e-scooter is more convenient.
“I have used a car a lot. And it is hard to park it. Maybe that is why I like them as well. Because compared to the use of a car in the city, these are really easy and accessible. So, taking a car had been a stressful moment for me. So, this small e-scooters, I like them” (interviewee P4)
The interviewee's statement about substituting her car usage with e-scooters was in line with the statement from the President of FOT. The President of FOT argued that e-scooters have the potential to lessen car usage in the city centre, even though she saw that the number of cars replaced by e- scooter usage is still low. However, she also mentioned that the concept of e-scooter as first or last- mile mobility does not have a significant role in reducing traffic in the city. While on the other hand, based on her opinion, car traffic is still currently the main problem in Stockholm.
“Somebody is arriving perhaps in T-centralen or the Odenplan [station] and take the e-scooter to go to Solna or somewhere, that does not reduce the car traffic in the city. So, from our perspective, I do not know what the benefit is” (President of FOT)
While on the other hand, the architect from TIP suggested that e-scooters have the potential to reduce car usage, especially if it is integrated with the public transportation system. She gave an example of a person who commutes from his/her home in the suburban area with a train and used an e-scooter
62 to reach their workplace after they departed from public transport. This option could be better than if the person were riding in a car since the beginning of the journey. She argued that it could improve the transportation system in Stockholm.
Another issue brought up about the concept of e-scooter as first or last-mile mobility is related to the health issue. It has been widely accepted that walking is a healthier type of transportation (e.g., Active Design, 2013), and the City of Stockholm prioritizes the walking activity in its future development. However, one interviewee considers that replacing the walking activity by using an e-scooter to reach a destination as diminishing the opportunity of inhabitants to have a little exercise. The President of FOT also showed a similar concern since she also sees that walking activities as one form of exercising. If the pedestrian switched to using e-scooters to reach their destination, the time allocated for having an exercise would also vanish.
“I think for some people that used to walk before using e-scooter, their health could be one aspect that is threatening. Because for instance, when you are young, you are still on the progress of developing your bones structure, and you need to move around to strengthen it. That is why walking is perfect. And now they take that away because of this [e-scooter] alternative. Yeah, we have been talking a lot about health here in Sweden in the last ten years. [E-scooter] let them move around easily, not moving much or walking, so I think it is not good…” (interviewee P1) d. How e-scooter affected the pedestrian walking experience The main aim of this study has been to examine the impact caused by the parked e-scooter towards the pedestrian's walking experience. However, during the interviews, it could be concluded that the interviewee's walking experience was also affected by the moving e-scooters, and some interviewees put their concerns heavily on this issue. Based on the theoretical framework by Mehta (2008), the experience that analyses in this sub-chapter is mainly an experience that related to how they perceived safety from the vehicle traffic, specifically e-scooters, and how they explain the level of comfort while walking concerning the presence of e-scooters on the sidewalk environment.
Regarding the parked e-scooters, most of the comments highlighted the messiness on the sidewalk environment because e-scooters were deployed in so many places. Some also think that it could be an obstacle to other sidewalk users, especially for people with limited mobility such as the elderly, people with a stroller, and people with disabilities. However, they did not judge all conditions of parked e-scooters as an obstacle. Interviewees do not face any problems with the parked e-scooters that were not disturb their walking activity. They consider that e-scooter parked in or near the bike racks or alongside the furniture zone as acceptable. For them, the condition that considers as a disturbance is when e-scooters was parked or laying in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Hhm… ok then this one, for example, [she pointed on a photograph where an e-scooter is laying in the middle of the sidewalk] e-scooter laying down in the middle of the sidewalk, I think it is not nice. It makes the street looks like rubbish” (interviewee P2)
“Then for people with a stroller, or some kind that has a mobility impairment, in ae wheelchair or something. That might be a pain in the ass actually to navigate while it [the e-scooter] is in the middle of the sidewalk or the pedestrian lane….” (interviewee P5)
An interesting thought came from an interviewee who was sometimes using a stroller while walking with her daughter. If one of the respondents from the previous survey mentioned that she frequently ran into e-scooters that deterred her walking and sometimes made her move in the traffic lane,
63 different opinions showed by the interviewee. She mentioned that she rarely faced a circumstance where she had to move away from the sidewalk and argued that it depends on the condition of the sidewalk itself.
“Well, sometimes, I must steer away to avoid e-scooters while walking, but it depends on which sidewalk you are on. But most of the time, it was ok for me. It was a rare occasion for me to move away from the sidewalk if people parked it [e-scooter] on the middle of the street or the pavement” (interviewee P4)
Furthermore, the moving e-scooters on the sidewalk is the one which is considered to be a main threat to the pedestrian. Interviewees stated that they feel annoyed and sometimes even scared if they encountered moving e-scooters on the sidewalk. They consider that the vehicle moved too fast, even though the current regulations stated that the maximum speed of vehicles is 6 km/hour, in space for pedestrians.
“I have never been scared in my whole life to walk on the sidewalk but now with all those scooters and bicyclex too, I am afraid….” (interviewee P1)
“I feel more disturbed when e-scooters do not move in the cycle lane, compared to the parked e- scooters. I feel so disturbed because of that. They are reckless. Those who ride on the sidewalk are reckless” (interviewee P6)
They all also suggested that e-scooters should not be permitted to move on the sidewalk at all. Even though they had it explained that e-scooters must be driven at a low speed when moving in the same space with pedestrians, the interviewees still felt hesitant. They argued that they felt anxious because they could not see the e-scooters coming from behind them, and sometimes, the e-scooter users were riding too close to them.
“Yes! I must look forward and then to the left then to the right and even behind me because I cannot hear them coming. And they are moving so close to us… That is rather scary” (interviewee P1)
The President of FOT also expressed her hesitation about the current technology that the e-scooter companies owned to implement the current speed limit regulations. Based on her argument, it was hard to keep track of the e-scooter riders that break the rules. Besides, during the observation, some e-scooters that moved on the sidewalk were spotted to move at speeds that were considerably more than 6 km/hour.
“But again, how do you make sure that they [e-scooter riders] are only running 6 km/hour? You need some sort of a geofencing or some technology in order to make sure that they comply. If it is a pedestrian area, they [the e-scooter riders] cannot go faster than 6 km/hour even if they want to. But I am not sure they have that technology at the moment….” (President of FOT)
One of the respondents also added her thoughts on why e-scooters should be prohibited from moving on the sidewalk. She shared her experience while encountering a situation where an e-scooter accident happened in front of her eyes. The accident involved an e-scooter user and a pedestrian. Although she considers herself as a person that is pro e-scooter, she felt that riding with e-scooters in the pedestrian space could cause harm to other sidewalk users.
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“I came across when I was picking up my daughter from preschool, and I saw a man had been hit by one of them [e-scooter rider], and they were laying on the ground. I think he had a head injury, and it did not look very well so, yeah, they should be on the road” (interviewee P4)
The interviewee from the FOT organization mentioned that for a pedestrian, the feeling of being safe, relaxed and have less stress are the main aspects that could increase the walkability in the city. Putting e-scooters in the Stockholm area without a better management plan could add stress for the pedestrian. On the other hand, pedestrians are also considered the most vulnerable subject in the built environment. Some of the accidents that happened in Stockholm were classified as a single accident (report 2019); thus, it still generates an unsafe feeling for the pedestrian. Those feelings of the lack of safety could decrease the willingness of pedestrians to walk in the inner-city area, which at some point lessens the value of urban life.
“Especially when you walk around St. Eriksplan and Odenplan… it is calmer here [the interviewee refers to her neighbourhood around Gärdet] – so I do not want to walk anymore [in St. Eriksplan and Odengatan]” (interviewee P1)
While from the e-scooter user perspective, two e-scooter users that took part in the interview showed a similar reaction about their habits while using and parking the e-scooter. Both interviewees agreed that it is not fair to ride the vehicle in places that causes disturbances for other sidewalk users, incredibly the pedestrian.
“Hmmm if there are pedestrian [lane], traffic lane, and no bicycle lane, I choose [to ride my e- scooter] in the traffic lane because I am too scared if I hit a pedestrian” (interviewee P7)
They stated that they always use the cycle lane, if available on the street, and parked it in a way that did not cause an obstacle to pedestrians. One of them also said that she prefers to ride at a low speed, which is under 20 km/h in the cycle lane, less than the permitted speed regulated by the City of Stockholm and The Swedish Transport Agency. One of the difficulties while riding the vehicle was giving a hand sign, just like the cyclists do if the e-scooter user wants to turn left or right. It is because the e-scooter users found it hard to use their hands while steering the vehicle without endangering themselves.
“But I am cautious. You know as I am [car] driver myself. Sometimes when I stop, I would lead the scooter if I am going to cross the road or pass the pedestrian crossing. So, in the dangerous passes, I just get off and lead the scooter for a while” (interviewee P3)
“I parked my scooter in the bike rack because the building provides it. And I think it is not good to put it in the middle of the street, right?” (interviewee P7) e. What regulation is needed to manage the e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm? Based on the observation, it could be seen that streetscape condition on Odengatan and Hornsgatan is different. Odengatan has a narrower traffic lane compared to the road on Hornsgatan. However, the sidewalk around Odengatan is more extensive compared to the Hornsgatan area because of its location close to the transit nodes of Odenplan station. The pedestrian flow is also higher in the Odengatan area; therefore, it has affected the size of its sidewalk. The Cycle infrastructure also differs in the two locations. In Odengatan, the cycle lane is placed directly into the traffic lane without any
65 buffer. The cycle lane in Hornsgatan mostly consists of a separate lane between the main road and the cycle lane, except for the eastern part of the street. The cycle lane around Zinkensdamm station does not have any separation from the traffic lane.
In terms of the sidewalk's size itself, most of the interviewees frequently passing by the Odengatan area stated that it did not bother them because e-scooters were mostly parked close to the furniture. They said that there are still plenty of space for them to walk without being disturbed by the e- scooters, even if there is a high pedestrian flow.
“But then of course that they [e-scooters] take some space and I think for the most part people just put them in the bike parking areas, or just close to a wall or something. So, most of them [e-scooters] are out all of the way” (interviewee P5)
“You know that the sidewalks in Odengatan is wide enough. They could accommodate many pedestrians. It will be different if the sidewalk is narrow” (interviewee P6)
However, one of the interviewees showed her consideration of seasonal activities alongside the Odengatan street, which is the outdoor seating for café and restaurant that popped up during summer. She showed scepticism if Odengatan still has some space left to accommodate the e-scooters on it. Her argument was also similar to the one from the pedestrian organization.
“There are a lot of cafes and restaurants on Odengatan, and there are a lot of people walking there. I do not think there are spaces for e-scooters in that area, at all” (interviewee P1)
“There are a lot of areas that have narrow pavements [in the Stockholm inner-city ], and if you are using a wheelchair, it will be problematic. They [the city] are also kind of closing some roads for traffic during the summer, which is nice. It is nice to get that liveable city. But there are also the needs of pedestrians…” (President of FOT)
Different opinions were expressed by interviewees that are frequently passing by the Hornsgatan area. The narrower sidewalk caused one of the interviewees to feel unsafe with the moving e-scooters, even though many e-scooter users do not move on the pedestrian area in Hornsgatan. As a regular cyclist, she also combined her experiences with those of using a bicycle around the area. One of the issues that she mentioned was about a height applied on the sidewalk to differentiate between the cycle lane and the sidewalk area. She thought that the current conditions on the sidewalk that has a different small level between two spaces that would be harmful if the pedestrians were not focusing on walking or if the cyclists lost control while bike riding.
“They [the cyclists] are scary as well. Because you [cyclist] never trust the pedestrians, and the pedestrians never trust the cyclists. I will not go fast here if I have my bikes. Because people, when they are walk and talk, they forget where they are… So, you know they just cross the line, and that is scary, it is not good” (interviewee P2)
Since many pedestrians suggested that it is better if e-scooters moved into the cycle lane, the quality of cycle infrastructure was also analysed further. This suggestion also supported e-scooter users' statements that they always move in the cycle lane. For some people, classified as foreigners, especially from places where the bicycle infrastructure's quality is not as good as in Stockholm, they showed a favourable opinion about it. Their definition of a good quality of cycle infrastructure is a continuous bike lane and bike racks in various spots.
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“I think that the cycle lane facilities in Stockholm are already good enough. If there is a cycle lane, I am more confident while riding my cycle” (interviewee P7)
While for some people that are originally coming from Stockholm, they have various about the cycle infrastructure condition. One of the interviewees, who is also an e-scooter rider, criticized the quality of the pavement of the cycle lane. Sometimes, she felt unsafe while riding a scooter on the cycle lane that has no flat surfaces or has some hole, which impaired the security of her ride. Her experience was relevant to the report about the e-scooter accidents in Stockholm released in 2019. The report stated that e-scooter accidents that affected by road design mostly because there are holes or crack in the road (Stockholms Stad, 2019). She also assumed that the lack of quality in Stockholm's bicycle lane also contributes to the behaviour of e-scooter users, where they ride it on the sidewalk.
“Yes, I aware that the street is not really in good shape, and there are many holes. So, you need to be cautious when you ride [e-scooters]. I guess that is why e-scooter riders use the pavement instead [of riding in the bicycle lane] because mostly, they are in a lot better condition compared to the bicycle lane” (interviewee P3)
Moreover, the interviewees agree if more separated cycle lanes from the traffic lane and continuous cycle lanes need to be added in Stockholm. They argued that doing so could increase the safety of the low-speed vehicle users.
“Yes, a street design must be clear. Now, if we are on the road, we could see a bike sign for a lane that is dedicated to bicycles. Maybe it could be added with e-scooter signage? So, it could guide the e-scooter users too” (interviewee P6)
“Because at some places there is still some area that does not have a continuous cycle lane. So, they [e-scooter riders] need to move to the traffic lane, which is scary... so I think they need to improve the current city's infrastructure” (interviewee P7)
Regarding the parking conditions, interviewees also showed similar perspectives on the importance of providing better-designated parking areas for e-scooters. Their main concern is lessening the messiness on the sidewalk environment. Their opinions varied on the importance of providing a physically designated space, or if it is enough to improve the capacity of geofencing technology that is applied by each e-scooter company. One of the e-scooter users also felt a hesitation while parking his e-scooter where there was no specific signage visible. However, another e-scooter user suggested that the designated parking area should be flexible; otherwise, it would contradict the concept of a dockless e-scooter.
“Right, I feel hesitation and thought: is it ok if I parked it here? But then the building already provides bike racks so yeah, I put it [e-scooter] there” (interviewee P7)
“But if I have to put the e-scooter in a special place [after finishing the ride], then it would be hard as well. You really want them to be door to door. Otherwise it is not really helpful…” (interviewee P3)
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One of the considerations for providing a physical designated space is the uncertainty regarding the presence of e-scooters in the future. If the city invested money in a vehicle that will not be present in the future, it would be useless.
The TIP's architect also showed a similar perspective on this issue. Hence, the interviewee suggested integrating it better with the cycle infrastructure, which on the one hand, means that the city should improve the quality of Stockholm's cycle infrastructure and adapt it for the e-scooter.
“So yeah, the city needs to adapt to it [e-scooter] but not specifically provide it [infrastructure] to e-scooters. Maybe more into improving the current infrastructure… Because in some places, there is still some areas that do not have a continuous cycle lane. So, I need to move in the traffic lane [while he rides the e-scooter], which is scary” (interviewee P7)
“And to make dedicated lanes for them [e-scooter], I think it is a little bit too much. There would be a lot of planning for something really popular right now, but, in several years, I do not know if it is going to vanish or stay. Make a big investment in them [e-scooter]. I do not think that would be the right way to do now. So... putting them on a bike lane would probably fine” (interviewee P5)
The representative from FOT also added that it could be an indication to reconsider the current street allocation, which is now heavily dedicated to car traffic. She argued that the planners should diminish the space for the car, instead of sacrificing the pedestrian space. However, she also concurs with the idea where pedestrian and e-scooter space should be separated. Furthermore, she also mentioned that the e-scooter has a different character than the bicycle; hence, planning should carefully identify some possible clashes when putting bicycles and e-scooters in the same space. f. Expectations about the regulations to better manage the e-scooter phenomenon in Stockholm All interviewees, both the pedestrians and e-scooter users, criticize the lack of regulations about e- scooter in Stockholm. Some of their concerns were about the classification of the vehicle, the parking regulations, the speed limits, and defining where the e-scooters could move. Furthermore, interviewees also agree that the behaviour of e-scooter riders mostly caused some problems that occurred on sidewalks. They suggested that regulations are also needed to manage the behaviour of e-scooter users.
Currently, The Swedish Transport Agency classifies the e-scooter as a bicycle. For some interviewees, these classifications are the easiest way to regulate the vehicles. Some of them also think that the e- scooter is similar to the bicycle, for instance in term of the speed. However, one interviewee shared her thoughts about the benefits of classifying it as a specific type of vehicle. She argued that giving it the same classification as the bicycle could cause some overlaps in the regulations because of differences in both vehicles.
“Hmm… for classifying it as one type of transportation… it could be. It could be one better option for an e-scooter. For instance, another type of vehicles such as passenger car, they have their classification. … and classification would make the policy-making progress easier, right? If they classify it as the same as a bicycle, it possibly makes the regulation overlap between each other or not suitable. So, the purpose of classification is to make the right regulation” (interviewee P6)
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The second concern regarding the speed limits, the parking spaces, and the location where e-scooter should move is related to safety. The interviewees all agree that the current regulation about e- scooters is not clear. They mentioned the e-scooter was a good idea, but that most of the problems were caused by the behaviour of e-scooter users. One of the interviewees suggested that both the City of Stockholm and e-scooter companies should work together to manage e-scooters in public spaces. On the one hand, it is because the company that has control over e-scooter technology could keep track of their users.
“It should be both sides (The City of Stockholm and the e-scooter companies) because it is affected the city plan too, right? So, if it is not a collaboration from two sides, it will not work very well. Then for security purpose they have that geofencing feature from the GPS. So, it could define the location and the added radius without adding another physical item” (interviewee P7)
Some others also suggested that an e-scooter user should follow the traffic rules. One of the interviewees argued if, currently, the e-scooter is classified as the same as a bicycle, then the e-scooter user should follow the same rules that applied to the cyclist. VOI, as one of the e-scooter companies, claimed that they also will make some effort to educate their users. One of the VOI's employee confirmed this statement through an e-mail conversation.
“At VOI, there's also a traffic school, where every rider can sign up, learn some traffic rules and earn VOI credits, more info here: https://ridelikevoila.com/enter” (an employee of VOI)
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7. DISCUSSION
This chapter will connect the results with the research questions that guided this research. The chapter will discuss some considerations on the sidewalk environment in both study locations and how e- scooters affected pedestrians and the sidewalk environment. This part will describe how various conditions of e-scooters, which are not only caused by the parked e-scooters but also by the moving ones, could construct various experiences for the sidewalk users. The feelings and perspectives of the pedestrians will be widely discussed to understand better not only their walking experiences but also some interrelated aspects that affect their walking activity because of e-scooters on sidewalk environment. Because the e-scooter riders are also considered as active users of the sidewalk environment, their experiences while riding e-scooters on the sidewalk environment in both locations will also be discussed. Both pedestrians and e-scooter users perspectives will be discussed altogether with experts' views under the question of what aspects of sidewalk design need to be improved to minimize the clash between pedestrians and e-scooters. Furthermore, some relevant issues, such regulation and e-scooter users' behaviour, will also be discussed to get better insight on how to develop the sidewalk environment and mitigate potential problems between e-scooters and pedestrians.
7.1 Sidewalk environment and e-scooter parking conditions The results show that complaints raised mainly focus on how e-scooters impede access for pedestrians and other street users. Meanwhile, also, the character of the sidewalk environment leads to different pedestrian perceptions about e-scooters. In support of this idea, Choi and Lindelöw (chapter 4) mentioned that the urban form in the Swedish context creates good walkability conditions, compared to the North American context and some other places. In Stockholm, sidewalks are mainly available in many city-centres and even in suburban areas, which is renowned as areas with a high dependency on cars. However, the characteristics of each sidewalk is different (see figure 33). Some factors that vary are, for instance, the width of the sidewalk and the availability of cycle infrastructure. Therefore, this chapter discusses how different physical conditions which affected pedestrian experiences.
Based on the NACTO document, sidewalks on both streets could be easily divided into four zones (see figure 33). Odengatan has wider pathways compared to Hornsgatan, especially in its pedestrian throughzone . The street furniture zone on both streets consists of some planted trees and streetlights, with no specific design that could make this zone understood as a street furniture zone. However, the street furniture zone is the most common area where parked e-scooters are placed by e-scooter companies (see chapter 6.1.1 and 6.1.2, point b). However, it could be seen that there are parked e-scooters in other zones (see chapter 6.1.1 and 6.1.2, point b). Most of the survey's respondents stated that e-scooters also parked or laidin the middle of the sidewalks. It could argue that if e-scooters were placed on the pedestrian through zone and affect the pedestrian's movement. Thus, it could be understood why many complaints that raised in the survey (see chapter 6.2.1, point
70 b) were directed explicitly toward these conditions. When e-scooters are laying or parked in the middle of the sidewalk, they turned into obstacles.
Figure 33: Sidewalk zone division based on NACTO guideline on Odengatan (left) and Hornsgatan (right)
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These conditions caused a situation related to Blomley's (2011) statement, when static objects disturb the flow of pedestrian traffic. If the static objects disturb the pedestrian's flow, the sidewalk then failed to provide a nice and well-functioning public area. The respondents also blamed the behaviour of e-scooter users. They were argued that e-scooter users are mainly reckless and irresponsible. The discussion about e-scooter users' behaviour will be discussed later in this chapter.
Moreover, sidewalks also considered as a place where various activities can occur. It is also described by NACTO (2019) as one form of public space that has a role in maintaining urban life. Therefore, one of the interviewees also mentioned that Stockholm's sidewalks have a different social activity based on its seasonal differences. Some of the social activities extend to outdoor spaces and affected sidewalk environments. Most of the extension of social activities were in the frontage zone, which is based on NACTO guidelines regarding the front side of a building. Even though it is not affecting the pedestrian through zone, it could be argued that pedestrians will have a different feeling about the presence of e-scooters. The condition of parked e-scooters that in another seasonal conditions are defined as not disturbing, could be different if the amount of sidewalk space is increased. These experiences will be discussed further in chapters 7.2 and 7.3.
As mentioned in the interview (see chapter 6.3, point d), e-scooters affected pedestrians not only when they are parked, but also when they are moving. Based on the whole data collection, e-scooters that are moving on the pedestrian through zone are considered as a situation that affected the pedestrian the most. The percentage of e-scooter users that are riding on the sidewalk, especially in the zone that is intended to pedestrians, was different on two streets that are the focus of this study. There was a higher percentage of e-scooter users in Odengatan that decided to ride on the sidewalk compared to e-scooter users in Hornsgatan. It is closely affected by the condition of the bicycle lanes or the enhancement zone. Different states of the enhancement zone in both streets have a role in producing different behaviour from e-scooter users. This aspect will be further discussed in sub- chapter 7.5.1.
7.2 Pedestrian's experience towards parked e-scooters The findings from the survey and the interviews could be divided into two different experiences of how pedestrians perceive the parked e-scooter on the sidewalk environment. One of the experiences was affecting their accessibility aspect while the other more into the comfort aspect. As various conditions of parked e-scooters were encountered during the observation, each situation produces a different effect for the pedestrian. Similarly, to what has been stated in previous research by Fang et al. in San Jose (see chapter 2), this study argues that not all the conditions of parked e-scooters affecting the accessibility of pedestrians. Referred to the sidewalk division by NACTO (see chapter 4.4), most of the e-scooters were placed in the frontage and street furniture zone. The pedestrian through the zone, which is the primary accessible pathway that runs parallel to the street, should ensure that pedestrians have a safe and adequate place to walk (NACTO, 2019) by having no e-scooters on it.
On the contrary, the survey shows that there was a high percentage of respondents that claimed that e-scooters frequently left in the middle of the pedestrian through zone. This result contradicted the observation result. One possible explanation could be argued that those conditions probably occurred in another inner-city area of Stockholm that is not the scope of this study. As mentioned earlier in the previous subchapter, if e-scooters are laying or parked in the middle of the sidewalk, they turned into an obstacle. Nevertheless, based on the model by Alfonzo (see subchapter 4.2) about the hierarchy of walking needs, the condition where e-scooters located in the pedestrian through zones most likely will affect accessibility. It causes situations where the pedestrians need to pay attention carefully to their surrounding while walking if there are inappropriately parked e-scooters. Besides, the different sizes of the sidewalk space in Odengatan and Hornsgatan also create various pedestrian perceptions of how the parked e-scooters invaded the space. One interviewee (see chapter 6.3, point d) mentioned how parked e-scooters could affect her movement and accessibility more on the smaller sidewalk, compared to the wider one.
Still based on Alfonzo's model of the hierarchy of walking needs, another aspect of the walking experience and how it is affected by the presence of e-scooters in the sidewalk environment is comfort. Based on the interviews, it was clear that most of the interviewees felt that the parked e- scooters, even though they do not affect the accessibility, make them feel discomfort while taking a walk. As mentioned by Mehta (2008), an obstacle-free path is considered as an aspect that affects the pedestrian's willingness to walk. As a new 'materiality' occurs on the sidewalk, E-scooters are, in some conditions, considered to be obstacles to the walking environment. Also, as a new object available in the sidewalk environment, e-scooters faced an interpretation from the pedestrian as a 'strange object' because they never experienced their presence before. Eventually, the conditions of parked e-scooters that implemented a flexible and dockless concept were considered as messy in the sidewalk environment. This aspect, one could argue has relevance to the declining comfort value in the sidewalk environment in both Odengatan and Hornsgatan.
On the other hand, messiness also disrupts the visual quality of the sidewalk environment. It also contributes to lessen the comfort level of the sidewalk environment, even though it does not seem to be the pedestrian's primary concern. Most of the pedestrians added that the uncomfortable feeling that emerges does not affect their decision to walk in those areas.
7.3 Pedestrian's experience towards moving e-scooters While the parked e-scooters are mainly affecting the accessibility and comfort level of the sidewalk environment, different concerns were shown by the pedestrians about the moving e-scooters. Pedestrians mainly mentioned that safety is one aspect that is being considered when e-scooters are moving in the pedestrian through zone. Their concern is related to how this 'new materiality' threatened their walking activity, which is a situation that Mehta (2008) described as one where the low-speed transportation mode clashes with the faster speed transportation modes. This situation applies in both the Odengatan and Hornsgatan sidewalk environments which have different physical characteristics.
One of the effects that caused when the pedestrian feels unsafe or threatened by the moving e- scooters is declining walking activity. For instance, referre to Interviewee P1 (see chapter 6.3, point d), she preferred not to walk in some areas in Stockholm (e.g., St. Eriksplan) because of the high percentage of e-scooters that moved there. The decline of walking activities on the sidewalk could lessen the social activities occurring. Refer to Blomley (2011), if the pedestrian has less opportunity to conduct social interactions and engagements, it will threaten the vibrance of urban life. The sidewalk value could be decreased of its meaning, which should be understood as more than just a space for the movement of people and goods. As also argued by Gehl (2011), living cities should be places that are rich in experiences that could, for instance, invite people to spend more time in outdoor settings. If the pedestrian has less interest in spending time on the sidewalk environment, an opportunity to create meaningful experiences will vanish.
7.4 E-scooter users' perspectives toward e-scooters and sidewalk environments Concerning some positive views about the presence of e-scooters in Stockholm, there are other thoughts that popped up regarding the presence of e-scooters. One of the interviewees argued that
73 e-scooters could be a suitable replacement for private cars , which is still considered high in the inner- city of Stockholm (see chapter 6.3, point c). The argument is relevant to a previous study conducted by Hardt et al. (2019) that mentions if there is a potential of establishing e-scooters as an alternative to cars since the domination of car usage is still high in the city. As mentioned above in chapter 6.3- point c, The President of the FOT also argued that e-scooters could be considered as beneficial if they are replacing cars, not another type of sustainable transportation. Walking considerably is one type of sustainable transportation, and it has a strong correlation with health benefits. There was a concern that people will substitute their walks for e-scooter usage (see chapter 6.3, point c), which will threaten the health levels of residents.
E-scooter users also mentioned the readiness of the city's infrastructure to adapt to e-scooters. The e-scooter users' perspective could also add as an evaluative aspect of the physical environment, which Clayton (2012) argued as a factor that they can see and feel disturbing. Their perspective could strengthen the value of environmental psychology as a people-centered field, which could explore the view of a specific type of user and their needs. It also could lessen the gap in the tendency of urban planning practice in understanding people's perspectives during the planning process and were still using the people's perspective in general (Churchman, 2002). Using the e-scooter users' perspectives to evaluate the conditions of the sidewalk environments arguably could help planners to identify specific needs of street users to be implemented in the physical environment.
In Stockholm, e-scooter is currently classified under the same category as a bicycle (see chapter 3.4), thus they are encouraged to ride in the bicycle lane. Moreover, some people also criticize that e- scooters still move on the sidewalk, specifically in the pedestrian through zone, is related to the quality of the existing bicycle lanes in Stockholm. Referred to interviews with two e-scooter users (see chapter 6.3) there are some issues that e-scooter riders feel about the physical condition of the cycle infrastructure in Stockholm. First, referring to interviewee P3 (see chapter 6.3, point e), the condition of the cycle infrastructure is sometimes not sufficient. There are conditions where the surfaces are uneven with some holes. It made them worried about falling if they are not driving the vehicle cautiously. Interviewee P3 so argues it is a reason why many e-scooter users tend to ride in the sidewalk. While on the other hand, e-scooter users also showed a serious concern to avoid riding on the sidewalk because they do not want to disturb the pedestrian (see chapter 6.3, point d). Second, there is an intermittent bicycle lane on some streets. This condition confused e-scooter users, whether they should ride in the traffic lane or the car lane (see chapter 6.3, point e). A dilemma occurred since riding in the car lane means e-scooters must compete with cars, which achieve faster speeds than e- scooters.
The way e-scooter users describe what they feel and see while using the sidewalk environment, especially in the enhancement zone (see chapter 4.4) in Stockholm's inner-city showed that the city's need to manage the current bicycle infrastructure better. This intention is not only to provide a safer walking environment to the pedestrian but also to provide better quality bicycle infrastructure in Stockholm. Furthermore, it could also be the most efficient way in which city infrastructure could adapt to e-scooters, or other upcoming models of micro-mobility in the future, without having to invest in every new mode of transportation that emerges (see chapter 6.3, point e).
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7. 5 How to better manage the sidewalk environment based on the pedestrians and e- scooter users' experience and how to minimize conflict between the two groups As a new phenomenon in urban transportation service that impacted the sidewalk environment in Stockholm, many things needed to be considered regarding managing the e-scooter in Stockholm's public spaces. Both pedestrian and e-scooter experiences showed various interrelated aspects that affected their walking experience, which leads to evaluations of the sidewalk environments in the inner-city of Stockholm. This study intended to analyse which design aspect of the sidewalk environment that need to adjust regarding the presence of e-scooters. Nevertheless, based on the observation, survey, and interviews, another two issues were identified and should be considered while managing e-scooters in Stockholm public spaces. The design of the sidewalk environment, the regulation of e-scooters , and the behaviour of the e-scooter users play an essential role in managing this phenomenon and will be discussed further below.
7.5.1 The design of the sidewalk environment Regarding some of the discussions from the pedestrians, e-scooter users, and experts above, it showed that cities need to rethink their streetscape and sidewalk environment because of emerging technologies in e urban mobility systems. Cities also need to maintain their sidewalk spaces to accommodate the need for e-scooters without sacrificing the needs of other users and types of transportation. Some aspects that could be improved regards the quality of the bicycle lanes and the designated parking spaces for e-scooters.
About the parked e-scooters There are broader aspects of sidewalk environments that relevant to consider while maintaining e- scooters in Stockholm, one of them is the importance of defining sidewalk zones. It is essential to clearly define the sidewalk zones alongside the sidewalk environment around Stockholm, as suggested by NACTO, to minimize the clashes between users in the footpath. If the minimum technical standards of each zone of the sidewalk environment have been defined in the first place, it would be easy to plan for designated parking for e-scooters and which areas are suitable to accommodate it.
Figure 34: east part of Hornsgatan street Figure 35: middle part of Hornsgatan In Hornsgatan, for instance, the sidewalk area around Zinkensdamm station (see figure 34) could be seen as unsuitable for having parked e-scooters. Only a narrow pedestrian through zone available there, and it will not have the capacity to accommodate the parked e-scooters without disturbing the walking activities of pedestrians. In contrast, the physical characteristic of other parts of Hornsgatan's sidewalk (see figure35) showed the possibility of having parked e-scooters. However, the occurrence of extending outdoor seating during the specific season should also be considered in terms of
75 managing the sidewalk environment. This consideration is related to Tibbalds' statement that managing public spaces could not be separated from the provision of good design to sustain it. Moreover, as sidewalk should integrate the various needs of pedestrians including people with disabilities with special mobility requirements (Kirschbaum et al., 2001), it should be determined that e-scooters should be parked in the sidewalk area only if the minimum standard of pedestrian through zone has been achieved. As argued before, this issue encouraged city planners and e-scooter companies to redefine the flexible approach that is applied to e-scooters, which will be discussed further in the policy section below.
Towards the moving e-scooters Since Mehta (2008) argued that providing safety for individuals is a critical aspect to maintain walking activity, added with the preference of pedestrians (see chapter 6.3, point d), it is better if e-scooters are prohibited on moving in the sidewalk. Alfonzo's model also showed that safety was placed on the fourth level, which is before comfort needs. The pedestrian will seek safety after the accessibility needs have been fulfilled. In this situation, the pedestrian expects to feel safe from the threat of the traffic – specifically Figure 36: micro-mobility corridor concept (ITDP, 2020) the e-scooter traffic. E-scooters that are now placed in the street could be classified as a fast-moving vehicle because is faster than pedestrians. Thus, as mentioned by Mehta, separating those two different types of transportation could be relevant to maintaining safety for the pedestrian. Sidewalks should be intended as a space for the pedestrian, and e-scooters should move into another type of lane, for instance, the cycling lane. Placing two types of vehicles that have similarities, for example, because of similar speed, would be relevant to lessen the clash between two different types of transportation. This approach is similar to the argument from Robert-James (2003) that suggested seeing walking and cycling as separate entities. This separation is related to the different needs and characteristics of those two modes. However, an integrated strategy that covers both modes of transportation alongside with all other modes should be provided. Thus, based on this perspective, it would be suitable if e-scooters only moved in a dedicated lane for vehicles that have close or similar specifications.
This suggestion also relevant to the hesitation regarding the current capacity of the city of Stockholm to oversee the implementation of an e-scooter speed regulation while moving on the same space with pedestrians (see chapter 6.3, point d). During the observation, e-scooters that were spotted moving on the sidewalk had a faster speed than pedestrians. It could also be argued that the current technology of e-scooters still could not maintain the regulated speed on the sidewalk (6 km/hour). Currently, the only way to effectively manage the speed of e-scooters on the sidewalk is to depend
76 on the e-scooter users' awareness of the other sidewalk users, which is arguably not that reliable. The behavioural aspect of e-scooter users will be discussed further in the next section.
From a design perspective, this suggestion would work best if the current bicycle lane in Stockholm is sufficient. It means that the current bicycle lane should be improved to maintain safety and comfort for both cyclists and e-scooter users. Suggesting that e-scooters to move in the cycle lane without making a proper improvement to its quality would just 'moving' the problem to other space, which affects the cyclists. To avoid this matter, the city of Stockholm should look up for some design innovations such as the new micromobility corridor concept created by ITDP (see figure 36). This recommendation puts a new perspective on the street design, which defines the cycle lane with a new term called a slow street. The slow street itself is understood as a space that could accommodate the needs of various types of micromobility, that possibly occur in various shapes in the future while minimizing the conflicts between each other. To make the slow street work most effectively, the city of Stockholm needs to understand the specific characteristics of micromobility to provide the right physical specifications for street design. Some regulations need to be set to achieve these right specifications. This issue will discuss further in the regulation section.
Furthermore, planning new city infrastructure needs to consider new things more than just providing access to one specific type of transportation. Considering the potential of e-scooters as complementary transportation from public transportation, the design of the sidewalk and street should fulfil some aspects such as safety, comfort, and attractiveness. Also, emphasize that using e- scooters is more flexible in terms of the route choices; users could have a variety of options while travelling in this vehicle compared to, for instance, using a car. Alongside it, improving the quality of street and sidewalk environment could lessen the threat of riding e-scooters as a replacement for walking. If the street could provide a setting that could enhance the walking experience, people will tend to combine both walking and riding e-scooters while having a journey to gain different experiences in the city. Moreover, it could contribute to sustaining social activities in Stockholm public spaces.
7.5.2 The e-scooter regulation The sudden appearance of e-scooters in Stockholm, like in many other cities, was confusing not only in the physical environment but also regarding regulation. Based on the discussion with pedestrians, e-scooter users, and experts (see chapter 6.3), regulation is an inseparable aspect of managing the presence of e-scooters in Stockholm. As mentioned before, it would be suitable if e-scooters only moved in a dedicated lane for vehicles that has close or similar specifications.t. However, in the current situation, there is not a clear consensus on what micromobility means (ITDP, 2020), including e-scooters. This problem caused many cities also to struggle to put standardized regulations on it. Planners are troubled to design a suitable lane if a precise classification of e-scooters has not been defined. Many cities conducted experiments on how better to manage the presence of e-scooters in their cities. Some of the cities, for instance, Seattle and London, already classified it as one type of micromobility while other cities, like Stockholm, still classify it as the same category as a bicycle. In this case, classifying e-scooters as a specific type of micromobility would make e-scooters in the city of Stockholm easier to regulate and avoid confusion with related modes.
This argument is in line with the previous study conducted by Moschlidou & Pangbourne (2019) (see sub-chapter 2.2). Considering the needs of putting e-scooters under a specific type of transportation will also benefit the long-term planning of the city of Stockholm. The city of Stockholm could start by defining a particular technical aspect of e-scooters, such as speed, weight, and power. The clear
77 classification of e-scooters will help the city to define which aspect of Stockholm's cycle lanes, as argued in the previous section is a space that is suitable to accommodate the moving e-scooters, that needs to improve. Alongside with sidewalk users' arguments (see chapter 6.3, point e), a better and clearer design of the lane could attract e-scooter users to ride in the designated lane. Then, the process of prohibiting e-scooters from moving on the sidewalk works in line with a solution to sustain the change.
Furthermore, providing a straightforward definition of e-scooters could also help the city to steer the capacity that is targeted to specific types of mobility services and how they could contribute to help the city achieve its planning strategy. A discussion between related actors, such as the government and e-scooter service providers, alongside dissemination of information to the citizens, would be crucial. This effort could also help the city of Stockholm to set a different responsibility among providers and define consequences if they do not fulfil it.
Another aspect that also needs to be regulated better regards e-scooter parking management, which is arguably affecting pedestrian accessibility (see chapter 6.2.1, point b). The reason why many pedestrians put consider accessibility, as compared to other aspects, is consistent with Alfonzo's model (2005). This model showed that accessibility as a second level need, while comfort, for instance, is on the fifth level (see sub-chapter 4.2). It means that the pedestrian prefers better accessibility while walking in the first place. Then after the accessibility has been fulfilled, the desire to feel comfortable while walking will put in place. Prioritizing the accessibility aspect then could be used to regulate better the parked condition of e-scooter on the sidewalk, which was already one focus of the agreement released by the City of Stockholm. As mentioned earlier, Blomley (2011) also considers that a successful sidewalk is achieved if the static objects do not disturb the flow of pedestrian traffic. However, providing better accessibility in the pathway, or maintaining the pedestrian through zone to always free from barriers, could integrate with giving a better comfort level on the sidewalk environment. A previously mentioned, the application to report the improperly parked e-scooters in Stockholm could also work better with the pedestrian evaluations. Evaluations from the pedestrian perspective could also help to set design and planning strategies to minimalize messiness because of the parked e-scooters. Some flexible parking design for e-scooters could be produced to improve the comfort level on the sidewalk.
Furthermore, the City of Stockholm and e-scooter companies could also use several complaints regarding improperly parked e-scooters to implement the flexible approach to the service. Even though the main concept of the dockless e-scooter is a flexible urban transportation, which means the user could take and deploy it everywhere, it is later realized as not suitable in Stockholm. Some arguments above showed that a flexible concept of e-scooters would not work together with the city's ambition to provide a pedestrian-friendly environment– which put comfort as one of the critical aspects.
7.5.3 The behaviour of the e-scooter user Another important aspect that is interesting to discuss in maintaining the e-scooters phenomenon is the behaviour of its users. Some pedestrians claimed that e-scooter users' behaviour is reckless and
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ignorant. Various evidence regarding how e-scooters users' behaviour affected pedestrians in several ways showed that good behaviour also needs to be maintained. E-scooter companies could not work by themselves. The city of Stockholm needs to work together with e-scooter companies, to set and implement the regulations. One of the best practices comes from the city of Portland in the United States. The city not only made a precise Figure 37: a written regulation which is accessible by regulation of e-scooters in the city inhabitants that released by the Portland municipality but also made the information (travelportland.com, 2020) accessible to e-scooter users (see figure 37). By spreading the information as concerned city officials, as also argued by one of the interviewees (see chapter 6.3, point c), could increase the public trust about the city's involvement in e-scooter management.
Another issue that is also considered is related to safety. A lot of pedestrians thought that e-scooter users need to put more intention towards safety while using the vehicle, not only to another sidewalk users but also to themselves (see chapter 6.3, point b). Using a helmet is one recommendation that is suggested by e-scooter companies, but many e-scooter users were still spotted not wearing one while riding. On the other hand, the number of e-scooter accidents increases every year, as stated in the accident report by the City of Stockholm (see sub-chapter 3.3). It shows an urge to the city that maintaining the related city infrastructure would not sufficient if the behaviour of users are not well- regulated.
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8. CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
The research questions will be presented, and their answers will be summarized in this chapter to present conclusions to this research.
How do pedestrians experience the accessibility, safety, and comfort of the sidewalk environment with the presence of e-scooters? It could be concluded that pedestrians experienced accessibility, safety, and comfort differently according to the conditions of the e-scooters. Parked e-scooters affect the pedestrian's experience differently compared to moving e-scooters. The parked e-scooters mostly caused the level of comfort of the pedestrians to decrease, while a few conditions of parked e-scooters also affected the accessibility of the pedestrians. While on the other hand, the moving e-scooters would mostly threaten pedestrian feelings of safety, and this condition is considered to imperil the willingness of pedestrians to walk.
How do the e-scooter riders experience the sidewalk environment while using the vehicles? Since e-scooters are classified in the same category as a bicycle in Sweden, the main intention of e- scooter users' is seen as equivalent to the bicycle infrastructure in the city. The current condition of bicycle infrastructure in Stockholm, even though adequate, still has several elements that could be improved. The quality of the cycle lane pavement is one aspect that needs to be enhanced, in terms of sustaining the safety of e-scooter users while riding the vehicle. Another element that could be added are intermittent cycle tracks in the city, which also could help e-scooter users be less confused while riding in the cycle lane. Improving those factors also believed to lessen e-scooter users' behaviour while riding the vehicle on the sidewalk.
Based on the first two questions, it could be seen that pedestrian and e-scooter users have different considerations while experiencing e-scooters on the sidewalk environment. Pedestrians tend to focus on how e-scooters affected their accessibility, comfort, and safety while walking and whether it is affected their decision to walk or not. A different view towards how pedestrian perceived the presence of e-scooters in Stockholm then divided pedestrians into two categories. A first category is a group of people who could tolerate the presence of e-scooters by considering e-scooters as an aspect that disturbs their comfort while walking. They were also aware that in some situations, there were e- scooters that caused troubles to their walking activity; hence did not think it would lessen the benefit offered by the vehicles. The other group prefers to ban the e-scooters on the street mainly because they see e-scooters affecting the accessibility and safety of their walking.
On the other hand, e-scooter users tend to express their concern about the quality of the cycle lane, as part of the sidewalk environment. Most of the e-scooter users have a very positive view of e-scooters and also tend to avoid conflict with other street users, mostly the pedestrians. Nevertheless, they expect a better quality of cycle lane for perceived safety while riding the vehicle. Moreover, they also consider a better cycle infrastructure to avoid conflict with cyclists, which is a critical aspect to consider in the future development to avoid creating new problems in the sidewalk environment.
What aspects of sidewalk design in the inner-city of Stockholm could improve the situation for both pedestrians and e-scooter users? Are there ways to develop the sidewalk environment to mitigate potential problems/clashes between pedestrians and e-scooters? Different characteristics of the sidewalk environment also showed mixed responses about how the parked e-scooters affected the pedestrian experience. Understanding that some sidewalk is not suitable for having parked e-scooters on it because it will cause trouble to the pedestrians could be used in defining the parking management regulation in Stockholm. It could also be used as an approach to identify the 'flexibility' concept for e-scooters, which needs to support the main goal of the city of Stockholm as a pedestrian-friendly city.
Furthermore, an adaptable sidewalk and street environment could be implemented based on the analysis of this study. Improving the current condition of the city's infrastructure, such as bicycle lanes, could be a suitable option right now. However, the city could plan and design the sidewalk and street environments better if the definition of e-scooters is classified better alongside with the other types of micromobility in the city. Thus, it could help the city planners and designers to define the specific requirement of the physical environment in the future development that satisfies the different types of transportation modes in the city.
Minimizing the clash between e-scooter users and pedestrians also shows that managing e-scooter users' behaviour as an essential intervention that the city needs to do. Instead of just focusing on the agreement with the e-scooter companies, providing a clear regulation and some consequences if e- scooter users disobey it, should also be prioritized. Thus, educating e-scooter users should be done through a collaboration between the city of Stockholm and e-scooter companies. Furthermore, this education also needs to be easily accessed by residents , by, for instance, social media and a pamphlet to catch more extensive awareness.
Based on this analysis, it could be understood that urban design could play an essential role in influencing e-scooter users' behaviour. Because of o some new types of transportation that emerged in urban areas, designing and planning the city area should be developed in a more pragmatic implementation about the latest technologies. It means that city's infrastructure, such as sidewalks and streets, could adapt to new changes without drastically changing the existing physical conditions. Thus, improvement in the existing city's infrastructure could be a priority alongside the Stockholm urban development.
Suggestions for future research The issue of e-scooters could be seen as a multi-dimensional issue that needs a comprehensive perspective to provide suitable solutions to tackle urban problems. Some aspects could analyse further to enrich the research scope of e-scooters, especially from the urban planning, design, and policy perspectives, are: a. Positioning e-scooters as a new type of transportation in the city that then leads to the consideration of how these new mobility services affect the current streetscape and sidewalk environment. It would be interesting to understand how it would affect other cities with a different urban form from Stockholm. Some cities maybe already have a similar characteristic with Stockholm, which is mostly designed to serve walking activity, but other cities are mainly still intended for automobiles.
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b. This study shows a suggestion that e-scooters should share the same space with the bicycle because its similar characteristics, such as speed. However, there is a need for further investigation of the cyclist's perspective regarding this issue.
c. The concept of e-scooter as first and last-mile mobility would be interesting to analyse further, whether it works best in the suburban or the inner-city areas. The idea of e-scooters is basically to reduce car usage and complement public transportation. Thus, further analysis could be put in place to understand how e-scooters are positioned in the multi-modal transport system and how the design of the suburban street environment could adapt to the e-scooters. Moreover, it would also be interesting to examine what designated parking spaces around the transportation hubs, such as tunnelbana station could be implemented.
d. Under the theory of innovation, the e-scooter phenomenon could be classified as a socio-technical transition. This theory has a concept to provide solutions based on a wide range of analysis towards a new type of innovation in society. The approach has its roots in institutional theory that underlines the importance of considering three different levels within the system of innovation, which are niche, regime, and landscape (Fryszman et al., 2019). Finding the interrelated aspects in the transition process could be crucial to supporting a multi-actor, long-term, and multi- institutional process in the transition towards a new type of mobility in e urban areas, which is e- scooters in this context. It could be sufficient to analyse further the needs and expectations of the government and e-scooter companies. Analyzing different perspectives from related stakeholders could be used by the city of Stockholm to avoid a r situation similar to San Diego when the government overreached on this issue and caused many e-scooter companies to leave the business there (Bloomberg, 2020) e. Furthermore, the pandemic situation could also be used to analyse the potential of e-scooters as a safe transportation mode to prevent the further spread of pathogens. The current pilot project in London could also be used as an example of how the city could work to examine the benefits and drawbacks of e-scooters while also emphasized community participation during the trial process.
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Transportation for America, 2020, Parking and Street Willig, C. & Rogers, W. S. 2017. The Sage Handbook of Design. [online] Available at: < Qualitative Research in Psychology. [pdf] Available at https://playbook.t4america.org/parking-street-design/> 86 APPENDIX 1 – Questionnaire [English] Impact of E-scooter in Stockholm's Public Spaces This survey intended to understand your experience, as a person that walks and uses the sidewalk (trottoar) space in the inner-city area of Stockholm, towards the presence of e-scooters on it. You could be either the pedestrian or an e-scooter rider. The received responses will be used just for this master thesis project and will be deleted at the latest 3 months after the thesis has been finalized. If you have any concerns or questions regarding the survey, you can contact me through e-mail at [email protected]. You can at any step in this survey cancel your participation and no data will then be saved. Hi ! My name is Adinda Rachmanto, and I am a master student at KTH Royal Institute of Technology under the program of Sustainable Urban Planning and Design. I am currently working on my master thesis project in collaboration with Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut (vti.se), under the supervision of Karolina Isaksson. Project Description The aim of this research is investigating the impact of e-scooter in public spaces around Stockholm, specifically the sidewalk (trottoar) that located in the inner city area of Stockholm such as Norrmalm, Södermalm, Kungsholmen, Vasastan, and Östermalm. I am interested to hear your perspective towards the presence of e-scooters that easily spotted on the sidewalks environment in the inner-city area of Stockholm. This survey takes 3-4 minutes to answer and I am looking forward to hearing your opinion ! Best regards, Adinda Rachmanto Due to the COVID-19 outbreak that affected your daily life, I kindly ask you to answer the questions based on a typical situation in Stockholm (around 2-3 months before the pandemic is rapidly spreading). 1. Which sidewalk user are you ? a. Pedestrian b. E-scooter rider Questions to you as Pedestrian 1. How often do you walk on the sidewalk located in the inner city area of Stockholm ? a. More than 5 days/week b. 4-5 days/week c. 2-3 days/week d. Less than 2 days/week e. Other For other, please describe your answer 2. Does the COVID-19 outbreak affect your frequency of walking in the inner city area of Stockholm ? a. Yes, I walk much less than before b. Yes, I walk slightly less than before c. Yes, I walk much more than before d. Yes, I walk slightly more than before e. No, I walk as same as before 3. Have you noted the presence of e-scooters on sidewalks located in the inner city area of Stockholm ? a. Yes b. No 4. Which condition of e-scooter you mostly encounter on sidewalks located in the inner city area of Stockholm ? Never Sometimes Frequently E-scooter parked near the bus platform or station ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ entrance E-scooter parked near a street furniture, e.g street ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ lamp, bench, tree, garbage cart E-scooter parked in a way that disrupt an access to the ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ building E-scooter parked in the middle of the sidewalk ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ E-scooter parked in or near a bicycle rack ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ E-scooter leaning toward the building wall ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ E-scooter laying in the middle of the sidewalk ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Other, Please specify 5. What do you think about the presence of e-scooters on sidewalks located in the inner city area of Stockholm ? Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly disagree Agree It is good to have e-scooters located in ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ various spots on sidewalks E-scooters disrupt the movement for ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ pedestrians on sidewalks E-scooters disrupt the movement on ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ sidewalks especially for elderly, persons with a trolley, wheelchair, vision impairment etc 88 E-scooters are placed in locations that ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ disrupts access to the building E-scooters disrupt the visual quality of ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ the sidewalk I have no problem with the presence of e- ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ scooters on the sidewalk Other, Please specify Questions to you as E-scooter rider 1. How often do you ride an e-scooter in the inner city area of Stockholm ? a. More than 5 days/week b. 4-5 days/week c. 2-3 days/week d. Less than 2 days/week e. Other 2. Does the COVID-19 outbreak affect your frequency of riding the e-scooter in the inner city area of Stockholm ? a. Yes, I walk much less than before b. Yes, I walk slightly less than before c. Yes, I walk much more than before d. Yes, I walk slightly more than before e. No, I walk as same as before 3. After finishing the ride, where do you usually park your e-scooter ? Never Sometimes Frequently Near to a bus platform or a station entrance ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Near the street furniture, e.g., street lamps, trash bins, ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ benches, trees, etc Near the building ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ In or near a bike racks ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ In the middle of the sidewalk ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Others. You can describe any other location that is not mentioned above or write N/A if you do not have any preferences where to parked your e-scooter 4. Do you face any problems while parking your e-scooter ? a. Yes, always b. Yes, sometimes c. No, never 89 Please explain your answer General Questions 1. Which area do you pass by most often ? a. Odengatan, Norrmalm b. Hornsgatan, Södermalm 2. In what area do you live ? a. I live in the inner city area e.g Södermalm, Gamla Stan, Kungsholmen, Vasastan, Norrmalm, Östermalm/Gardet b. I live in an area with 15-20 minutes commuting time from inner city area c. I live in an area with 21-30 minutes commuting time from inner city area d. I live in an area with more than 30 minutes commuting time from inner city area 3. What is your age ? a. 18-24 b. 25-34 c. 35-44 d. 45-54 e. 55-64 f. 65-74 g. 75+ 4. How do you classify your gender ? a. Female b. Male c. Other d. Prefer not to say 5. Could we contact you for a further discussion about this topic ? a. Yes b. No If you answer yes, how could we reach you ? Please provide your e-mail address or telephone number 90 [Svenska] Konsekvenser av Elsparkcyklar i de Offentliga Utrymmen runt Stockholm Meningen med denna enkät är att förstå din upplevelse som användare av trottoaren i Stockholm innerstad med närvaron av elsparkcyklar i trottoarmiljön. Du kan vara antingen en fotgängare eller en elsparkcykel användare. Dina svar kommer att användas endast för detta mastersprojekt och kommer att raderas senast 3 månader efter att uppsatsen är färdig. Om du har några frågor om undersökningen är du välkommen att kontakta mig via e-post [email protected]. Du kan närsomhelst under tiden som du besvarar undersökningens frågor avbryta din medverkan, och i så fall kommer dina svar inte att sparas. Hej! Jag heter Adinda Rachmanto och studerar mastersprogrammet på KTH för Hållbar Stadsplanering och Design (Sustainable Urban Planning and Design). Jag arbetar nu med mitt examensarbete i ett samarbete med Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut (vti.se) under handledning av Karolina Isaksson. Projeckt Beskrivning Syftet med detta projekt är undersöka konsekvenser av elsparkcyklar i de offentliga utrymmen runt Stockholm, särskilt trottoarutrymmen som ligger i Stockholms innerstad, till exempel Norrmalm, Södermalm, Kungsholmen, Vasastan, och Östermalm. Jag är intresserad av att höra ditt perspektiv angående närvaron av elsparkcyklar som lätt upptäcks på en trottoarmiljö i Stockholm innerstad. Enkäten tar cirka 3-4 minuters att besvara och jag ser fram emot att ta del av dina svar! Med Vänliga Hälsningar Adinda Rachmanto På grund av utbrottet av COVID-19 som påverkade ditt dagliga liv, jag ber dig svara på detta enkäter baserat på en typisk situation i Stockholm (2-3 månader innan COVID-19 snabbt sprids), tack! 1. Jag är ….. a. Fotgängaren b. Elsparkcykel användaren Frågor till dig som fotgängare 1. Hur ofta använder du/vistas du i trottoarmiljöer i Stockholms innerstad ? a. Mer än 5 dagar i veckan b. 4-5 dagar i veckan c. 2-3 dagar i veckan d. Mindre än 2 dagar i veckan e. Övrigt Om du svarar övrigt, motivera ditt svar 2. Påverkar COVID-19 utbrottet din frekvens av användandet/vistelsen i trottoarmiljöer i Stockholms innerstad? a. Ja, jag reser mycket mindre än tidigare b. Ja, jag reser lite mindre än tidigare 91 c. Ja, jag reser mycket mer än tidigare d. Ja, jag reser lite mer än tidigare e. Nej, jag reser lika ofta som tidigare 3. Har du lagt märke till att det finns elsparkcyklar i trottoarmiljöer i Stockholms innerstad ? a. Ja b. Nej 4. Under vilka omständigheter stöter du oftast på elsparkcyklar i trottoarmiljöer i Stockholms innerstad? Aldrig Ibland Ofta Elsparkcyklar parkerade nära en busshållplats eller en ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ stationsingång Elsparkcyklar parkerade nära gatumöbler, till exempel ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ gatlyktor, bänkar, eller soptunnor Elsparkcyklar störs tillgången till en byggnad ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Elsparkcyklar parkerade mitt på trottoaren ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Elsparkcyklar parkerade i eller nära ett cykelställ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Elsparkcyklar som är lutade mot en byggnad ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Elsparkcyklar som ligger på trottoaren ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Övrigt, motivera ditt svar 5. Vad tycker du om närvaron av elsparkcyklar i trottoarmiljöer i Stockholms Tar helt Tar avstånd till Varken Instämmer till Instämmer avstånd viss del eller viss del helt Det är bra att ha några parkerade ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ elsparkcyklar på olika platser på trottoaren Elsparkcyklar stör hur fotgängare ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ generellt kan ta sig fram på trottoarer Elsparkcyklar stör särskilt hur äldre, ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ personer med barnvagn, rullstol, synnedsättning etc kan ta sig fram på trottoarer Elsparkcyklar störs en tillgång till en ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ byggnad Elsparkcyklar försämrar trottoarens ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ visuella kvalitet 92 Jag har inga problem med ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ elsparkcyklar på trottoaren Motivera dina svar Frågor till dig som Elsparkcyklarvändare 1. Hur ofta reser du med elsparkcykel i Stockholm innerstad ? a. Mer än 5 dagar i veckan b. 4-5 dagar i veckan c. 2-3 dagar i veckan d. Mindre än 2 dagar i veckan e. Övrigt Om du svarar övrigt, motivera ditt svar 2. Påverkar COVID-19 utbrottet din frekvens av resandet med elsparkcykel i Stockholms innerstad? a. Ja, jag reser mycket mindre än tidigare b. Ja, jag reser lite mindre än tidigare c. Ja, jag reser mycket mer än tidigare d. Ja, jag reser lite mer än tidigare e. Nej, jag reser lika ofta som tidigare 3. Var parkerar du vanligtvis din elsparkcykel efter att ha avslutat din resa? Aldrig Ibland Ofta Nära busstationen eller stationens ingång ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Nära gatu möbler, till exempel gatlykor, bänkar, eller ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ soptunnor Lutad mot en byggnad ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ På eller nära en cykelställ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Mitt på trottoaren ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Övrigt. Du kan svara för att ändra plats eller skriva N / A om du inte har 4. Stöter du på några problem när du ska parkera din elsparkcykel? a. Ja, alltid b. Ja, ibland c. Nej, aldrig Motivera ditt svar Generella Frågor 93 1. Vilket av dessa två områden befinner du dig oftast i? a. Odengatan, Norrmalm b. Hornsgatan, Södermalm 2. Var bor du? a. Jag bor i innanför tullarna Ex. Södermalm, Gamla Stan, Kungsholmen, Vasastan, Norrmalm, Östermalm/Gärdet b. Jag bor i ett område inom 15-20 minuters pendlingstid till Stockholms innerstad c. Jag bor i ett område inom 21-30 minuters pendlingstid till Stockholms innerstad d. Jag bor i ett område inom mer än 30 minuters pendlingstid till Stockholms innerstad 3. Hur gammal är du ? a. 18-24 b. 25-34 c. 35-44 d. 45-54 e. 55-64 f. 65-74 g. 75+ 4. Är du…. a. Kvinna b. Man c. Annan könstillhörighet d. Föredrar att inte säga Hör av dig om du har några fler funderingar 5. Kan vi kontakta dig för att diskutera mer om detta ämne? a. Ja b. Nej Om ja, ange ditt telefonnummer eller e-post 94 APPENDIX 2 – Interview guideline A. Pedestrian 1. Introduction - Explaining the purpose of the interview and background of the researcher - Confirming interviewee’s basic information (name, age, living area specifically) 2. Confirmation of the selected streets - Hornsgatan or Odengatan - How often do you walk in the selected street ? - What is the purpose of your walking ? 3. Follow up the answer : What do you think towards the presence of e-scooter in the sidewalk environment (in general) – RQ 1 - Do you think e-scooter could be a good transportation to complement the public transportation system ? Could you explain your answer ? - Explaining the majority answer based on the survey’s result - Reminds them their response, is it on the same answer based on the majority or the opposite. Could you explain more about your answer ? 4. Follow up the answer : Which condition of e-scooter that you mostly encounter in the sidewalk environment ? – RQ 1 - Explaining the majority answer based on the survey’s result - Reminds them their response, is it on the same answer based on the majority or the opposite. Could you explain more about your answer ? 5. In-depth question – RQ 3 - Related to your answer before, what do you feel most about some conditions of e-scooter in the sidewalk environment ? (affecting the accessibility/safety/comfort/efficient) - Possibly showing the pictures and video of the sidewalk, including an images of e-scooter in the selected street - Do you think that the physical quality of the sidewalk in (Odengatan/Hornsgatan) is suitable with the presence of e-scooter ? - Which aspect of the sidewalk that you think is already good ? (material, width, etc) - Which aspect of the sidewalk that you think needed to be adjusted to make it adaptable towards the presence of e-scooter ? (providing a parking space, etc) - Do you think it will be good if the sidewalk has a clear division (e.g : pedestrian zone, utility zone) ? Do you think it will minimize the conflict between pedestrian and e-scooter ? Could you explain more your answer ? - Possibly showing the pictures of good street that tries to manage the e-scooter in the sidewalk environment ? (ask what aspect is good on it and what they think needs to improve) - In conclusion, could you describe your sidewalk preferences (in term of the physical quality) to make it integrate with the presence of e-scooter ? - Is there anything else you want to add ? B. E-scooter users 1. Introduction - Explaining the purpose of the interview and background of the researcher - Confirming interviewee’s basic information (name, age, living area specifically) 2. Confirmation of the selected streets - Hornsgatan or Odengatan - How often do you ride in the selected street ? - What is the purpose of your e-scooter riding ? 3. Follow up the answer : What do you think towards the presence of e-scooter in the sidewalk environment (in general) – RQ 2 - Do you think e-scooter could be a good transportation to complement the public transportation system ? Could you explain your answer ? - Explaining the majority answer based on the survey’s result - Could you explain more about your answer ? 4. Follow up the answer : Where do you usually park your e-scooter ? – RQ 2 - Explaining the majority answer based on the survey’s result 95 - Reminds them their response, is it on the same answer based on the majority or the opposite. Could you explain more about your answer ? - What is the purpose of parking your e-scooter on those spaces ? Why not the other ? 5. In-depth question – RQ 3 - Related to your answer before, what do you feel most about the availability of parking space for e-scooter ? - Do you think it will be better if there are designated spaces for e-scooter in the sidewalk ? - How do you imagine the designated spaces should looks like in the sidewalk ? Could you explain your answer more ? - Possibly showing the pictures and video of the sidewalk, including an images of e-scooter in the selected street - Do you think that the physical quality of the sidewalk in (Odengatan/Hornsgatan) is suitable to accommodate e-scooters, especially when you ride on it ? - Possibly showing the pictures of good street that tries to manage the e-scooter in the sidewalk environment ? (ask what aspect is good on it and what they think needs to improve) - In conclusion, could you describe your sidewalk preferences (in term of the physical quality) to make it integrate with the presence of e-scooter ? - Is there anything else you want to add ? C. Experts (e.g FOT) 1. Introduction - Explaining the purpose of the interview and background of the researcher - Self introduction 2. Introduction for the company - Could you explain more about FOT and what is the purpose of the organization ? - What are the mission of the organization ? - What activities do the organization usually involved ? 3. About the e-scooter - Do you think e-scooter is a good complementary of the urban transportation system in Stockholm ? Could you explain your answer ? - It has been widely reported in several media (also in the survey) about the conflict that caused by e-scooters with pedestrians. In that aspect, that do you think it affected the pedestrian in Stockholm ? - Who do you think most affected with their presence and why ? - Do you think the presence of e-scooter affected the walking experience or quality of the pedestrian ? How ? 4. About sidewalk environment - One of the mission of FOT is to improve the walking condition in the city, what do you think about the concept of a good sidewalk ? - How do you think e-scooter could/should do to elaborate to achieve the good sidewalk in Stockholm ? - Do you think the current regulation of the good sidewalk environment (e.g Stockholm pedestrian plan) is sufficient to accommodate the presence of e-scooter ? Could you explain your answer ? 96 APPENDIX 3 – Interview consent Informed consent Interview about The Impact of e-scooter in Stockholm’s Public Spaces Name of interviewer: Adinda S. Rachmanto, Master candidate at KTH Royal Institute of Technology Purpose of the Interview We are going to talk about your experience and perspective towards the presence of e-scooter in the sidewalk environment in Stockholm, specifically on Odengatan-Norrmalm or Hornsgatan- Södermalm. This interview will be used for my master thesis project. It is expected to be finalized in August 2020. What will happen during the interview? I will ask you questions and confirming your answers from the previous questionnaire about e-scooter and sidewalk conditions. I will also show some images showing various conditions of e-scooters and the physical condition of the sidewalk on the selected street. The interview will be recorded, and I will take some notes regarding your answers. Your answer will then be transcribed and analysed. The material will not be used in any other context than in this research. Interview duration The duration of the interview will be approximately 60 minutes. Confidentiality All information you provide will be kept confidential. Your responses will be assigned a code number and your name will not be used in any way. Voluntary Participation Your participation is strictly voluntary. You may discontinue participation at any time. Contact If you have any questions or concerns, you could contact me at [email protected]. Interviewee information Name : …………………………………………………………………………………… Age : …………………………………………………………………………………… I lived in (e.g Odengatan area) : …………………………………………………………………………………... Do you agree to participate in this interview? YES NO Name of the participant Date Signature Interviewer Date Signature 97 TRITA -ABE-MBT-20749 www.kth.se