Community Transportation Needs and Willingness to Use Shared Micromobility: A Case Study of Fort Smith, Arkansas

Shared micromobility is utilized in “targeted service areas with the usage generally intended for short trips such as first- and last-mile connections to complete trips made via other modes, including transit” (Price et al., 2021). In the United States, this practice has especially taken off with the implementation of sharing-based systems. This is evidenced by ridership numbers in the United States growing from 84 million riders nationwide in 2018 to 136 million riders in 2019 (NACTO, 2020). Users often use their smart phone or another similar device to unlock the vehicle after paying a fee on the device through their credit card. While many people use these scooters or bikes as a novelty or purely for entertainment, “21% [of] adults would consider using e-scooters when available” (Mitra, 2020). The growing market for micromobility could result in changes in the way that the public commutes to their destination. E-scooters and bikes have potential to provide users the “last mile” of transportation. This, for instance, could be seen as a quarter-mile walk from the bus stop to a person’s place of employment. In urban areas, racial minorities and low-income users are almost twice as likely to use public transit (Anderson, 2016). Due to this growing market, it is important to analyze the ways low-income citizens will also be able to use scooter and bicycle sharing in cities in the US. Low-income users have less access to mobile phones (Pew Research Center, 2021). Additionally, 7.1 million Americans do not have access to a bank account (FDIC, 2020). Both of these factors combine into a possible user gap for low-income citizens regarding shared micromobility services. Utilizing data from users and cities, will assist municipalities and companies alike so they can implement micromobility in cities so that low-income communities can also take part. From implementation to public transit, to Sunday joy rides, micromobility has a chance to grow into a 2 mainstay in American cities. If this is the case, it is important that all people can utilize the system for effective public transportation. This thesis examines the transportation needs of citizens of low income communities in Fort Smith, Arkansas. This thesis is developed in conjunction with an NSF sponsored research project called SMILIES: Shared MicromobIlity for affordabLe-accessIblE Housing. SMILIES seeks to better link affordable housing and workplaces through shared micromobility by developing strategy for decision making. This thesis develops the survey that will be used in SMILIES to view the opinions of potential low-income users in the Fort Smith, Arkansas area