Reykjavík E-Scooters

E-Scooter Service Considerations

When introducing an e-scooter service to any city, there are many potential issues and pitfalls, and careful consideration must be given to each to ensure e-scooters can have the biggest positive impact.

Usage

One of the key issues with any e-scooter service is its usage. What type of people ride them? Are there issues with equity? How often are they really used, and how does it compare to other options like bikes? How much does weather affect usage? Answering these questions is key to ensuring that e-scooters are best serving the most common demographics, and can make or break the viability of e-scooters in a city.

Urban E-Scooter Landscape

E-scooters do not exists in a void, and so they must work well with their urban environment. The population of e-scooters can be problematic as overpopulation can cause economic, societal, and/or environmental issues, and so city governments must consider how to address this problem. Dockless E-scooters can also cause issues when not properly parked. Some solutions, such as mandatory drop-off points can be effective but greatly reduce the incentive for people to use them. Other topics that arise include the environmental impact of e-scooters, road conditions, and weather.

Safety

A common issue with e-scooters services is safety. E-scooters are fast, and often used in close proximity with both cars and pedestrians. Cities have to figure out what rules and regulations to apply to e-scooters, and how they will fit in with cars, bikes, and pedestrians. Common issues include poor road conditions, communication between riders and non-riders, and helmet use. Cities without mandatory e-scooter areas often see e-scooters left in places which are inconvenient or even dangerous for other road and pathway users. Injury and accident risks are the main concern and one of the more difficult aspects of e-scooter services to address.

What About Reykjavík?

Reykjavík is the capital of Iceland, and the largest city in the country. It is a popular tourist destination, and has a population of around 130,000 people. The city is also the home of the Icelandic Scooter Squad, a group of WPI students who studied e-scooters in during the fall of 2023.

Usage

Studying e-scooter usage in Reykjavík, out of 54 survey responses 59% of respondents had said they have ridden e-scooters in the city. Notably, residents accounted for 55% of the responses, and 70% of residents had rented e-scooters before, compared to 46% of travelers. This supports the claim that e-scooters are not just a tourist novelty but a commonly used mobility form of transport for all.

Survey respondents by residency
Resident Status	Number
Residents	24
Travelers	30

Percentage of riders by residency
Resident Status	Number
Residents	70%
Travelers	46%

Age was inversely related to e-scooter usage, with older respondents expressing safety concerns, particularly regarding balance. Gender distribution showed 59% male participants, 27% female, and "Not listed," "non-binary," or "prefer not to say" were individually under 5%. The majority of riders, recorded at 53% had taken 21+ e-scooter rides, emphasizing their frequent use, driven primarily by "being late/in a hurry" at 56% and "for fun" at 44%.

Most common uses of e-scooters
Use	Number
Late/In a Hurry	56%
For fun	44%
Tired/Did not want to walk	41%
To commute to work	31%
To commute to school	19%
Other	19%

Weather is seen to have little impact on Reykjavikians, with 84% responded to riding in "cold" and "windy" conditions, and seasonal data indicated "rare" usage in winter, "frequent" usage in spring and summer, and "occasional" usage in fall. Overall, e-scooters in Reykjavik seem to cater to a diverse user base, extending beyond tourists, with varying usage patterns influenced by age and little impact from weather conditions.

Weather conditions e-scooter users rode in
Weather Condition	Number
Windy	84%
Cold	84%
Rain	78%
Snow/ice	28%

Urban E-Scooter Landscape

Comments from Zolo's CEO, Adam Helgason, highlighted the idea of designated parking areas called "drop-off zones" and their pros/cons. Further data from the interview revealed that e-scooters cover an average trip length of 4.9 kilometers and see 2.1 daily trips per e-scooter, with hotspots mainly in downtown Reykjavík. Seasonal trends showed lower usage in winter, mitigated by more adapted e-scooter models for Icelandic winters, winds, and roads.

Safety concerns regarding the landscape emerged as some e-scooters were knocked over in different districts, as poor road conditions being reported, affecting user experiences. Obstructed pathways were a significant percentage of respondent's reports, either from bad parking or wind blowing them over. The Government provides clear directions as to park in a manner that does not impede the movement of other road users in the Safety and Usage Government Document. Some areas of concern include parking in the middle of pavements, footpaths, ramps, houses, or pedestrian crossings.

The Icelandic Government created the Service Agreement Contract, which helps address some of the distribution concerns. Section 4.2.3 specifies that an average of 2 rides per e-scooter per day for 3 months, as well as an average of 0.5 rides per day for any 1 month period is minimum for all companies. Furthermore, there are specific "drop off zones" for any e-scooter seeking to reduce clutter, but they are not mandatory. The city of Reykjavík has also implemented the Green Deal which is an agenda focused towards improving the city's environment, economy, and society. One of their stances is to put more pedestrians on the road in eco-driven ways like bikes, e-scooters, and public transportation, as seen in the Green Deal Government Document.

Pertaining to the environment, both e-scooter companies here make maximum efforts to retrieve lost e-scooters, even from unusual places. They do this through using user-provided pictures when users take pictures at the end of their ride, hooks and ropes when in water, and sound signals to locate if not seen nearby.

Safety

Regarding safety, observations revealed a startlingly low use of helmet use among e-scooter riders, with just 10 of 467 riders from our data seen wearing helmets on a Hopp or Zolo e-scooter. Reckless behaviors were also noted during observations, particularly the very common occurrence of two and even three riders on a single e-scooter, which violates the rule of no passengers in the Safety and Usage Government Document.

To address parking concerns, both Zolo and Hopp implemented a feature in their apps that requires users to take a picture of their parked scooter after their ride. As stated by the Icelandic government, a rider needs to keep in mind pedestrians do not expect a fast scooter flying from behind them. A bell must be used in advance and to slow down when passing as well as the use of turn signals on e-scooters for better communication. Another solution to road user safety is in the Governments Traffic Act, Article 46 stating that if a bike lane is parallel to a footpath, you may only drive on that bike path.

When analyzing issues faced while riding e-scooters in Reykjavík, our data highlighted significant concerns. With the highest issues both being "battery died un-expectedly" and encountered issues related to "poor or dangerous road conditions" being at 38%, other issues included scooter breakdowns or sudden stops, accidents, and various "other" scenarios.

Issues riders had while using an e-scooters
Issue	Number
Other	41%
Poor/dangerous road conditions	38%
Battery died un-expectedly	38%
None	19%
Scooter broke down or stopped working	9%
Had an accident/incident	9%

Additionally, issues while users were not riding an e-scooter were recorded. The main issue, affecting 41% of respondents was "e-scooters left on walkways". "Reckless behavior near pedestrians" 33% and "not following traffic laws" 22% were also prevalent issues, with 15% of respondents elaborating on these concerns. These issues pose both a great risk for the e-scooter riders, but also pedestrians, which is a known issue with e-scooters. This reflects a need for more education for e-scooter riders to ensure they understand the laws which they must follow.

Issues people had with e-scooters in the city
Issue	Number
Scooter left in road/blocking pathway	41%
Speeding/reckless near pedestrians	33%
None	30%
Not following traffic laws	22%
Almost getting hit	20%
Other	15%

Further Details Found In Full Report.

Search for "Sharing the Ride" on https://digitalwpi.wpi.edu/collections/iqp