Definition of the e-Scooter Sharing Stations Number and Location Under a Lack of Data: A Case Study of the City District in Dnipro

In Ukrainian cities, the number of users of bicycles, usual and electric scooters, and e-unicycles increased in recent years. All these vehicles are a direct alternative to walking trips or short-distance transport trips. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the micromobility has become a safe option to travel in the open air which ensured the possibility to keep social distance and reduce the number of contacts in comparison with public transport. This paper presents the approach to defining the rational number and location of e-scooter sharing stations under limited data. To estimate the number of the sharing stations, the station capacity, potential daily demand for e-scooter trips and the locations of available e-scooters were used. The locations of sharing stations were defined concerning walking accessibility, demand coverage and remoteness from the shortest path of the vehicle commissioned to collect the scooters for recharging or replace the scooter batteries on-site. The research was conducted by the example of Sobornyi district in Dnipro, Ukraine. Apart from the number and location of sharing stations, the potential flows of e-scooter riders were modeled. These findings are relevant because they can provide local authorities and sharing operators with the information for well-grounded decisions on public space and street design, micromobility infrastructure extension as well as planning of the sharing system performance indicators.