## 5 Discussion  
Studies performed in different urban contexts, such as in France, Austria, Greece, Norway, Poland, Canada, and the USA, show that the usage of shared e-scooters is mostly restricted to a specific public, which is represented by young males that have a high educational level, are students or employed/executives, and have medium to high-income ranges [51; 53; 54; 55; 57; 58; 59]. However, in some specific situations, shared e-scooters can provide a service to a more diverse stratification of the population, which is the case in Switzerland, where females are the most prominent users of the service [56]. However, the service still does not attend to the share of the population that has lower income, is unemployed, or does not have a higher degree of education. In the case study developed in Braga, to access the profile of the user of shared e-scooters and the equity promoted by this service, a survey was conducted so the socioeconomic data retrieved from users and potential users could be compared and correlated to the general socioeconomic characteristics of the population of the city. This research provides useful insights into opportunities for the usage of shared e-scooters in Braga, along with a further understanding of the range of attributes that are perceived by individuals for using shared e-scooters in the near future, which can help to deter the use of private cars in short-distance trips. Braga presents a standard pattern in the volume of trips according to the time of the year. The number of trips starts to rise when it gets warmer in late spring and summer, with the peak of trips being reported in late August and September when school and university classes start. A case study performed in Indianapolis, USA, showed that, from September to October, the number of trips, total duration, and total distance traveled also increase, but start to drop in November due to the cold weather and the holidays [69]. Additionally, [PERSON] et al. [66] showed that shared e-scooters could work well in university cities or near and on campus because of the volume of trips generated near these poles. Moreover, the utilization of shared e-scooters in Braga throughout the year generates inequity across the population, considering the socioeconomic profiles identified, namely gender, age, education, and employment status. This is because riders of shared e-scooters are mostly represented by young males, who are students and have a medium to high monthly income. On the other hand, if improvements in the service, such as the implementation of more dedicated infrastructure, parking spots, zoning, and the provision of alternative payment methods are made, the diversity in the users' profiles can be increased. In this case, more women would be willing to ride shared e-scooters, as the perception of road safety would be increased. Nonetheless, more efforts need to be made to allow more people from different educational levels, employment statuses, and ages to be able to use shared e-scooters. In Braga, Thessaloniki, Greece [70], and Austin, USA [66], shared e-scooters attract mostly recreational trips, since users choose this mode of transport because it is pleasant and fun to ride. A modal shift from personal vehicles may not be observed, since most of the respondents said they do not use shared e-scooters because they prefer to use a car. In addition, they use e-scooters to make little physical effort in their trips, which can make them replace walking for riding an e-scooter; this situation was also reported in Tempe, USA, when university students and staff were surveyed about their shared e-scooter usage patterns [71]. It is important to mention that, before the implementation of shared e-scooter services in cities, pilot programs can be performed to measure if equity standards will be achieved with this mode of transport.