E-scooters aspire to provide flexibility to their users while covering the first/last mile of a multimodal trip. Yet, their dual travel behavior, i.e., utilizing both vehicles’ roadways and pedestrians’ sidewalks, creates new challenges to transport modelers. This study aims to model e-scooter riding behavior in comparison to traditional urban transport modes, namely car and walking. The new modeling approach is based on perceived safety that is influenced by the road environment and affects routing behavior. An ordinal logistic model of perceived safety is applied to classify road links in a 7-point Likert scale. The parametric utility function combines only three basic parameters: time, cost, and perceived safety. First/last mile routing choices are modeled in a test road network developed in Athens, Greece, utilizing the shortest-path algorithm. The proposed modeling approach proved to be useful, as the road environment of an urban area is heterogenous in terms of safety perceptions. Indeed, the model outputs show that the flexibility of e-scooters is limited in practice by their low-perceived safety. To avoid unsafe road environments where motorized traffic dominates, e-scooter riders tend to detour. This decision-making process tool can identify road network discontinuities. Nevertheless, their significance regarding routing behavior should be further discussed.

The transportation sector contributes significantly to global warming, as well as to urban fabric problems such as traffic congestion, traffic accidents, noise pollution, and air pollution. A shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources and from motorized to non-motorized modes is now considered essential to create sustainable communities. Walking is a sustainable transport mode and several studies have focused on factors affecting it, including travel behavior and sociodemographics. In this study, we conduct a systematic literature review to identify and record walking benefits, the financial incentives that encourage travelers to walk, and applications that support it. Financial incentives are found to have short-term effects, and their success depends on the level and structure of the incentives as well as the characteristics of the participants. In addition, non-financial incentives, such as improving infrastructure and pedestrian safety, or providing information and education about the benefits of walking, may also promote it as a main mode of transport.

Battery-assisted trolleybuses (BATs) are among the options to be considered for electrifying bus fleets in cities, with established trolleybus catenary networks. BATs charge on the move using existing trolleybus catenaries and can extend their routes using onboard batteries. As such, in cases where thermal bus lines overlap to some extent with a trolleybus catenary network, these may be replaced by BATs; such a case has the advantage of avoiding either opportunity charging facilities or the use of (heavy) electric buses operating under a depot-charging scheme. Aiming at exploiting these operational advantages, this paper proposes a transit route network electrification problem dealing with the optimal selection of existing bus lines to be operated by BATs. The proposed model was applied to a real-world case study in Athens, Greece, with results showing that design objective prioritization largely affects the degree of electrification attained.

Urban micromobility systems are increasingly deployed to support sustainable transportation goals; however, their overall sustainability performance remains inconsistently assessed across environmental, social, economic, and operational dimensions. This study proposes a conceptual framework for evaluating the sustainability of urban micromobility systems, with a particular focus on e-scooters. It clarifies and restructures fragmented indicators into distinct, non-overlapping sustainability dimensions. The framework is structured around five impact areas: Environment, Economy, Users, Transport Performance, and Safety, complemented by two enabling components, namely the legal framework and business model, which are conceptualized as preconditions for system feasibility rather than performance dimensions. Building on existing sustainability assessment literature, the framework consolidates established indicators while introducing micromobility-adapted and context-specific indicators, such as service availability and operational characteristics, to better capture the distinctive features of shared micromobility systems. The resulting framework provides a structured and flexible tool for researchers, planners, and policymakers, emphasizing that micromobility sustainability depends not only on measured impacts, but also on governance, operational design, and local implementation conditions.