1 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 2 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 3 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 4 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 5 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 6 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