Congested Sidewalks: The Impact of the Built Environment on E-Scooter Parking

Throughout the quarter, we have discussed congestion and new era of transportation. I want to bring in a piece of research I conducted for my GIS class that looks at the contested area of the sidewalk and the impact of the built environment on e-scooter parking compliance. As the sidewalk becomes increasingly crowded with pedestrians, bike racks, trees, parking meters, and public art, adding dockless e-scooters creates a new conflict over space. The City of Portland went to great lengths when e-scooters were introduced to legislate a confined area where they could be legally parked. The research we conducted looks at the built environment and whether it impacts parking compliance rates.

The research utilized data provided by the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), in which researchers conducted walking surveys of three different areas of downtown Portland and observed every parked scooter. Each scooter was assessed for either being compliant or non-compliant in parking, and if non-compliant, reasons for noncompliance were noted. In total, 576 scooters were observed.



Figure 1. Block segments where e-scooters were observed in field survey. 

 

Figure 2. Density of e-scooters in the Pearl District Survey Area

First, our general findings on parking compliance are as follows:

1. 72% of scooters were found to be non-compliantly parked. 59% were in violation of more than one parking regulation.
2. 21% of non-compliantly parked scooters were at a bicycle rack, which is not allowed per regulations, though scooters can use other bicycle infrastructure such as bike lanes. 

Next, we looked at the parking compliance spatially. First, we looked at whether there was a statistical significance in parking compliance for blocks that had dedicated e-scooter parking. Using a chi-square test, we find that dedicated e-scooter parking improves e-scooter parking in a statistically significant way. Visually, the maps confirm this notion.


Figure 3. Observed e-scooter parking compliance in the Pearl District Survey Area for blocks with two or more e-scooters.

Then, we looked at how the amount of legally-parkable area on a sidewalk affected parking compliance. E-scooters are only allowed to be parked in the furnishing zone of a sidewalk, but that zone is where there can be extensive competition for the space. Using GIS, we were able to create a map of the three survey areas’ furnishing zones, and then using city regulations determine a percentage of legally-parkable area.

We found that on blocks with higher amounts of parkable space, there was a statistically significant increase in parking compliance.


Figure 4. Histogram of Percent Parkable Area and Count of Scooters Parked by Compliance

Overall, this research informs several issues for transportation planning.

1. Space conflicts and congested sidewalks can be mitigated by dedicated e-scooter parking.
2. For dockless devices, strict legislation may not make much of an impact on compliance. But instead, planners should look at a sidewalks’ parkable area to prioritize dedicated e-scooter parking locations. 
3. Certain regulations, such as prohibiting e-scooter parking at bike racks, may not make intuitive sense to riders and should be revisited.