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Surfing the City: Electric Scooters and Mobility Experiences in Urban Space

Investigating user experiences of e-scooters and the impact on mobility in Newcastle.

Dr Sharon Wilson

Project Lead

Newcastle Business School

Email: sharon3.wilson@northumbria.ac.uk

 

 

Project Themes

Mobility & Transport

 

Understanding the Challenge

Since the beginning of 2021, tens of thousands of people in Newcastle have used orange e-scooters installed by the City Council as part of a citywide trial. It is vital to explore the impact that widespread availability and use of on-demand e-scooters has on interactions between people, their surrounding dynamic environment, and digital technology. A better understanding of the impact of the e-scooter trial can help to inform future interventions and changes to mobility across Newcastle.

 

Our Approach

This project will explore the potential for e-scooters to have a fundamental impact on the relationships between people and their physical environment, whilst interacting with digital technology (rental, tracking, security). The project will gather data to understand the opinions of e-scooter users regarding their embodied experience of the digital interface, physical experience, rideability and navigation, all whilst connected to a GPS tracking system. Using mobile and visual methods such as 'ride-alongs' and ‘film-alongs’ the project will map the on/off-road mobilities of movements on the ‘official’ routes on cycle paths and roads and the 'desire lines' of pathways and pedestrian spaces. 


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