Shared Micro-Mobility Services for University Communities: A Multivariate Ordered Probit Approach

Abstract

The market penetration of shared micro-mobility services (shared bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters) suggest that young and highly educated people constitute a group of people that is more eager to use such services. However, little is known about the factors influencing their behavioral intention as a system. The analysis may provide insights on the adoption of shared micro-mobility services by modeling them as a system using multivariate ordered probit. This paper contributes to the existing literature by evaluating similarities and differences to these services focusing on assessing the behavioral intentions of a large sample of young and highly educated people that traditionally show a higher tendency of adopting technologically innovative services. It is hypothesized that the mobility patterns can affect people's adoption of these shared services in a car-dependent empirical setting. The analysis suggested that a variety of variables affect the behavioral intention to use shared micro-mobility services, such as employment situation, household size, travel patterns, level of awareness, and attitudinal variables in the form of perceptions on incentives and infrastructure. This study can enhance the current understanding of the factors affecting the behavioral intention, facilitating the development of policies toward such means of transportation. The results could convincingly answer key questions on the market adoption of these shared services, and characteristics of distinct market segments; thereby providing a deployment pathway for adoption. Additionally, the results could be useful to original equipment manufacturers for marketing and pricing-scheme decisions, planning agencies for policy-making decisions, and to transportation planners for provisions in infrastructure.