The implementation of e-scooters in Linköping municipality : Opportunities and challenges for sustainable transportation

Abstract: Across the world, efforts are being made to deal with climate change, where development in different fields is being made to transition towards a sustainable future. Transportation has become one component of this, resulting in the emergence of micro-mobility. One popular micro-mobility mode discussed by many scholars and introduced in many places, including the city of Linköping, is e-scooters. E-scooters have become popular due to the flexibility they offer. However, they have contributed negative aspects too. Therefore, I have investigated how the implementation of e- scooters has affected Linköping municipality in terms of the built environment, travel habits, and sustainable goals perspective. I further describe the approach to socio-technical transition by introducing a niche innovation and, in this case, e-scooters to improve the current transportation system to steer towards a low-carbon future. The impact e-scooters have had in Linköping municipality will be captured through interviews with the officials and politicians from the municipality. The findings showed that e-scooters negatively impacted the built environment by putting more pressure on an already crowded city. Some e-scooters would be carelessly parked, posing a danger to other traffic users. As a result, specific regulations, such as geo-zones, were made to reduce e-scooters being wrongly parked. In Linköping city, e-scooters have mostly replaced walking and public transport trips. Because e- scooters are still relatively new in Linköping municipality, their contribution to the municipality's sustainable goals is limited and difficult to assess.