In recent years, cities are experiencing changes in the ways of moving around, increasing the use of micromobility vehicles. Bicycles are the most widespread transport mode and, therefore, cyclists’ behaviour, safety, and comfort have been widely studied. However, the use of other personal mobility vehicles is increasing, especially e-scooters, and related studies are scarce. This paper proposes a low-cost open-source data acquisition system to be installed on an e-scooter. This system is based on Raspberry Pi and allows collecting speed, acceleration, and position of the e-scooter, the lateral clearance during meeting and overtaking manoeuvres, and the vibrations experienced by the micromobility users when riding on a bike lane. The system has been evaluated and tested on a bike lane segment to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the collected data. As a result, the use of the proposed system allows highway engineers and urban mobility planners to analyse the behaviour, safety, and comfort of the users of e-scooters. Additionally, the system can be easily adapted to another micromobility vehicle and used to assess pavement condition and micromobility users’ riding comfort on a cycling network when the budget is limited.

Micromobility studies sustainable urban mobility. In this area, bicycles have been the most popular vehicle for several years. However, the recent growth of users of alternative mobility vehicles, such as stand-up electric scooters (e-scooters), has raised several questions on how they interact with the infrastructure and other users, as well as whether the existing infrastructure is suitable for these vehicles. One of the variables to be analyzed is riding comfort, which can be measured through the vibrations transmitted to users by the pavement. Thus, this paper presents a methodology to assess the comfort of the micromobility infrastructure based on the vertical accelerations registered by an instrumented e-scooter. This methodology has been applied in ten sections of the cycling infrastructure network of Valencia (Spain). The analysis showed that asphalt presented less vibrations than any other material, followed by concrete and square tiling alike, and finishing with transversely oriented cobblestones. This translates directly to comfort, with asphaltic pavements being more comfortable than any other. The analysis also showed that higher speeds mean higher vibrations. This proves to be a useful tool for infrastructure management, where the administrator can place more uncomfortable pavements to lower the riding speed in desired areas (e.g., schools).

Micromobility is gaining popularity in urban areas, offering a more sustainable mode of transportation. The increasing number of road users who turn to micromobility (bicycles or stand-up electric scooters) reflects this positive shift. This study investigates cyclists’ comfort perception of riding on different pavement types (e.g., asphalt, concrete) and maintenance levels in two European cities with distinct cycling cultures: Valencia (Spain) and Delft (The Netherlands). Micromobility users in each of the cities were asked to rate their perceived comfort and maintenance level (5-level Likert scale) of selected pavement cycling sections using an online survey. Photographs and maps were used to illustrate each section. Asphalt served as the common reference category for cross-city comparison. Results suggest that pavement material and maintenance level are associated with differences in perceived comfort, with well-maintained asphalt rated highest in both cities. Ipsatized responses show that Delft respondents have greater dispersion in their responses than Valencia’s, highlighting the influence of local infrastructure, culture and context. These findings provide guidance for improving the comfort of cycling networks and as a result supporting the growth of micromobility in urban areas