Impact of E-Scooters on Pedestrian Safety: A Field Study Using Pedestrian Crowd-Sensing

Abstract

Micromobility solutions such as e-scooters are gaining popularity in urban communities. However, inadequate infrastructure (e.g., dedicated riding lanes), uncertain regulations, and lax enforcement have resulted in riders encroaching public spaces meant for pedestrians, causing significant safety concerns for both. It is now more critical than ever to understand factors that significantly impact pedestrian safety due to this upcoming micromobility paradigm, however there have been no realistic data-driven efforts in the community to address it. In this work, we fill this research gap by employing wrist-wearables (smart watches) to crowd-sense encounter data between e-scooters and pedestrians, and use that to investigate the pedestrian safety implications of unregulated micromobility.