As the use of e-scooters has proliferated globally, so have reports of crashes and injuries. Studies have highlighted the elevated involvement of rider inexperience in crashes, but the lack of longitudinal studies means that little is known about how rider behaviours change and whether rider safety improves with the accumulation of experience. As part of addressing this gap, this paper examines how the frequency of riding ( n = 361) and trip characteristics ( n = 315) changed with experience across 12 months for Australian riders of shared and private e-scooters. ANOVA and chi-square tests identified three barriers (physical effort, costs, availability) and two sociodemographic characteristics (e-scooter ownership and education) associated with changes in use. A multinomial logistic regression model showed that owners and post-school qualification holders were less likely to report a reduction in riding frequency. Interestingly, perceived costs was associated with reporting increased use. Trips on private e-scooters shifted toward shorter duration, reduced multimodal combinations and less substitution, whereas shared e-scooter trips remained broadly stable. Overall, experience accumulated over one year does not systematically reconfigure trip characteristics, suggesting that any safety benefits of experience are more likely to arise from improvements in rider capabilities (handling, rule knowledge, and hazard anticipation) than from large shifts in trip characteristics. These results call for differentiated policy responses to maintain or increase e-scooter use. Policymakers should support non-owners, who accumulate limited experience, through improved shared-fleet availability, affordability and programs or restrictions to assist skill development, while prioritising protective infrastructure and end-of-trip amenities for owners to reduce exposure-related risk.
Mansourifar et al. (2026) studied this question.