Evaluation of shared micro-mobility systems for sustainable cities by using a consensus-based Fermatean fuzzy multiple objective optimization and full multiplicative form

Abstract

In Turkey, the transportation industry's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased by 147.1% between 1990 and 2019. Today, this transportation industry (i.e., freight and passenger) is among the significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in Turkey's megacities. Moreover, 65.43% of short-distance trips between home to work and home to school have been made by private automobiles in Istanbul and increasing concerns about environmental pollution have led practitioners to seek practical, robust, and effective solutions to reduce GHG emissions. Shared electric scooters have rapidly become popular for end-users and practitioners in megacities, depending on their valuable advantages. However, the rapid spread of micro-mobility, characterized by escooters, has also raised questions about this system's sustainability, suitability, and applicability. Thus, there are some critical and noteworthy gaps in this issue. This study investigates the factors affecting the suitable e-scooter selection for a sustainable urban transport system. Besides, it aims to develop a methodological framework for assessing the available e-scooter alternatives. For this purpose, a novel negotiation approach, a new form of the Delphi technique, was developed with the help of Fermatean fuzzy sets to identify the influential criteria. Also, the current paper presents a consensus-based MULTIMOORA (Multiple Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis plus Full Multiplicative Form) decision-making model based on Fermatean fuzzy sets to address the appraisal problem concerning e-scooter selection. The current paper indicated that economic measures such as acquisition price and upkeep costs affect the e-scooter selection processes. In addition, an optimization model based on cross-entropy and dispersion measures is utilized to compute criteria weights. It highlighted that the costs of e-scooters are still high, and operators consider these criteria instead of the technical and operational features of the e-scooters. Finally, the validity check executed to test the robustness and trustworthiness of the model affirms the model's firmness and trustworthiness.