Understanding the Relationships Among E-scooter Ridership, Transit Desert Index, and Health-Related Factors

This study aims to analyze electric scooter (e-scooter) markets in transit deserts and oases in the U.S. The four cities of Austin, Chicago, Portland, and Minneapolis were selected as case studies to determine the prevalence of e-scooter rides as related to locations with limited public transportation options. A t-test was performed to analyze the difference in the number of e-scooter rides between the transit deserts and transit oases. Overall, the arithmetic means of the e-scooter rides between the transit deserts and transit oases were not significantly different in Austin, Chicago, and Portland. The results confirm that the transit index score was among the top three predictors of trips in Austin, Minneapolis, and Portland. In Chicago, health-related characteristics such as crude prevalence of arthritis, diabetes, and obesity were found to be the most important predictors of trips in Chicago.

Automated summary

This study analyzes the e-scooter markets in transit deserts and oases in the U.S. The results show that there is no significant difference in the number of e-scooter rides between the transit deserts and oases in Austin, Chicago, and Portland. However, in Chicago, health-related characteristics such as arthritis, diabetes, and obesity play a more important role in predicting trip frequency.