The use of micromobility vehicles, such as bikes and e-scooters, is prevalent among young men who often lean towards risky behaviors like fast or aggressive riding. However, there is still little understanding of how gender and other sociodemographic factors affect micromobility trips. We set out to investigate how bike-share cyclists and private e-scooter riders navigate through Barcelona’s cycling facilities, and whether factors like gender, age, and child-care responsibilities influence their travel behavior. The NEWMOB project gathered 911 GPS-tracked rides of 89 participants. By analyzing these trips, we discovered that there is a significant speed gender gap among e-scooter users, while being almost non-existent among cyclists. Our research also indicates that cycling facilities have a considerable impact on riding speed and that intersecting identities play a crucial role in how micromobility users move through the city. We argue that women’s reluctance to negotiate traffic or tolerate harassment in highly masculinized spaces might explain gender differences in travel behavior. By shedding light on the complex ways in which multiple forms of discrimination associated with identity combine, our study contributes to the limited available knowledge on the objective travel behavior of micromobility users from a gender and intersectional perspective. Moreover, our findings offer valuable insights into how urban environments’ design and targeted policies can have diverse effects on different micromobility users.

Jerònia Cubells, Carme Miralles-Guasch, Oriol Marquet
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

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ID Abstract: 267