Uneven development in market-based supplies of new micromobility services: the case of new e-scooter services

Abstract

This study starts from the assumption of a dialectical relationship between overall aspirations for a sustainable transport transformation and its predominantly market-based implementation. It analyzes the uneven development of e-scooter services during their first five years in Germany, using North Rhine-Westphalia as a case study. Three key findings emerge from the analysis: first, the early phase of expansion quickly stalled under market-based conditions and remains in prolonged stagnation. Second, only economically and culturally prosperous large cities provide a high-quality supply of micro-mobility services, whereas peripheral or structurally weaker cities exhibit limited or no provision. Third, market-based providers primarily focus on cities with high student populations, high purchasing power, large populations, and flat topography. These observations suggest that under market-based conditions, micro-mobility development is socio-spatially selective. A transport transformation, however, must be ubiquitous, raising the question of how progressive concepts beyond market logic could enable truly widespread provision of new mobility services.