A Scientometric Review of Powered Micromobility

Steve O’Hern and Nora Estgfaeller
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Steve O’Hern: Accident Research Centre, Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton 3800, Australia
Nora Estgfaeller: Accident Research Centre, Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton 3800, Australia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-21

Abstract: Micromobility is an emerging field of transportation, referring to trips undertaken by a range of microvehicles. Microvehicles encompass both traditional and emerging types of light vehicles from conventional bicycles and powered-two wheelers, through to e-bikes and e-scooters, e-skateboards and “hoverboards”. The recent uptake in powered microvehicles emphasizes the need to understand the knowledge domain of micromobility research. This paper summarises the research status by identifying main contributors to and evolutionary trends in the field. The study applied scientometric analysis techniques to review 474 articles published between 1991 and 2020. The search on Thomson Reuter’s Web of Science database was guided by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) common vocabulary for powered micromobility. Results show a proliferation of research in the field of powered micromobility since 2012, which demonstrates that the growth in research is occurring alongside the increased availability of microvehicles and trips being made using microvehicles. A broad range of research topics including user behaviour, vehicle technology, planning, policy, health and safety were identified with the latter two found to be the most studied areas. Findings suggest many potential benefits of using micromobility and that the field will continue to grow, spurred by the popularity of shared e-scooter schemes. Greater collaboration in the field is desirable to broaden the dissemination of knowledge.

Keywords: micromobility; scientometric analysis; e-bikes; e-scooters; powered-two wheelers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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