A geofencing-based methodology for speed limit regulation and user safety in e-scooter sharing systems

The advent and popularity of shared electric scooters in many urban areas worldwide offer new opportunities and challenges to be addressed by the research community, especially as far as safety and accessibility issues are concerned. This paper proposes a methodology, based on geofencing technology (i.e., virtual geographic boundaries) to define in which urban areas the speed of shared electric scooters should be limited. The methodology also helps to prioritize the areas in which to enforce geofencing interventions. Historical patterns of the sharing system usage, crash databases and context/network-related parameters, together with expert judgment, are the main inputs for a geofencing optimization that provides the recommended clustered areas where the speed-limit geofencing scheme can be planned to assure the greater safety of the system. The methodology has been applied to a real case study, the city of Bari, Italy, to show the potential of the proposal.