Physical disability

• Every capital city and over 25 local councils have trialled shared e-scooter systems through private operators including Lime, Beam and Neuron.
• Some people still think of these small electric personal vehicles as a passing fad.
• Or, worse, they see them as a source of transport system disruption, public space anarchy and traffic injury.
• Read more:
  Five years on, Brisbane's e-scooters and e-bikes are winning over tourists and residents as they open up the city

These schemes can help ease disadvantage

• They were twice as likely to use them for essential trips (such as shopping or commuting) and to connect with public transport (44% versus 23%).
• Half of Lime Access customers said one benefit of micromobility was that it allowed them to “get somewhere without a car”.
• This finding suggests these programs can help support a car-free or car-light lifestyle.

People with disabilities also benefit

• However, a number of Lime Access customers wrote about how the program allows them mobility despite medical conditions or physical disability.
• Many of those disabilities are “invisible” – the casual observer is unlikely to notice them.
• Yet for the riders, the electric motor of the e-scooter or e-bike reduced the fatigue and strain they would experience walking or riding a standard bike.
• I wouldn’t be able to get groceries or run errands or do most anything I do because of Lime.

Read more:
The old road rules no longer apply: how e-scooters challenge outdated assumptions

What can governments do to maximise the benefits?

• Unlike public transport services and even taxi services, there is no government support to encourage shared micromobility operators to expand their programs.
• In the United States, city governments have been proactive in embedding equity requirements into service contracts with micromobility providers.
• With the right incentives in place, we can maximise the benefits of micromobility for people who are most in need of affordable and accessible transport solutions.

Alexa Delbosc conducted this project in collaboration with Lime. Calvin Thigpen, an author on the research paper, is an employee of Lime. Lime provided access to distribute the survey to Lime customers and did not provide any financial support for the study. Dr Thigpen only became involved in the project during late-stage paper writing and qualitative data analysis.

• Globally, women are less likely to benefit from entrepreneurship education and training, particularly in programs supporting high-growth enterprises.
• When entrepreneurship programs do consider inclusion, most focus on gender without considering age, ethnicity, race or other identity factors.
• From an economic development perspective, the effectiveness and inclusivity of entrepreneurship programs is important as new businesses account for most net job creation.

Framework to analyze barriers

• Our team developed a framework to support a toolkit for inclusive entrepreneurship education and training called the Gender-Smart Entrepreneurship Education and Training Plus (GEET+) 2.0.
• The toolkit also profiles lessons learned from a systematic review of literature about entrepreneurship education and highlights barriers that marginalized and underrepresented people encounter in entrepreneurship programs.

Biases in education

• Scholars caution that there is a need to critically examine entrepreneurship education and training.
• Research, including studies conducted at Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, document biases in entrepreneurship education programming.

19 countries and EDI entrepreneurship education

• Our research found an absence of policies and criteria associated with equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in entrepreneurship education and training.
• We asked a 19-country panel of entrepreneurship educators to reflect on
  entrepreneurship programming.

• While some respondents said there were no problems, others identified multiple challenges seen in processes, program content and outcomes.
• We learned that how educators perceive who is or is not under-represented in entrepreneurship programs is context-specific.
• Overall, a key finding was that EDI initiatives have generally not reached entrepreneurship programs.

The framework

• Each component of the framework was tested in settings in the United States and Canada.
• All organizations used the toolkit to assess the status of programs and identify program service or inclusion gaps.

Developing common understanding, goals

• They developed common understandings of equity and inclusion issues within entrepreneurship education and training.
• To learn more, the toolkit including framework and assessment criteria can be downloaded at the University of Ottawa.

Barbara Jayne Orser receives funding from SSHRC. Catherine Elliott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Anthony Huff-McKay, a 24-year-old Tacoma resident, today filed a lawsuit against the City of Tacoma following a distressing incident where he was run over and severely injured by a patrol vehicle driven by Tacoma Police Officer Khan Phan.
• According to Austin Neff, an attorney with Osborn Machler who filed the suit on behalf of Huff-McKay, the legal action underscores significant concerns regarding police conduct and emphasizes the urgent need for systemic changes in law enforcement training and accountability.
• The suit claims the car meet attendees gathered in an intersection and tensions rose as Phan attempted to push through the crowd of pedestrians using his patrol car.
• “This case is a stark reminder of the grave consequences of inadequate police training and accountability.

• Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the state’s Medicaid agency, has announced its intention to award UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Arizona as one of two organizations to administer its Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) EPD program for individuals who are elderly and/or have a physical disability.
• UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Arizona was selected by the state to offer its whole-person, equitable long-term care to ALTCS members in every county, expanding its current service area.
• "We are honored to be selected to continue serving Arizona’s long-term care members and our expansion statewide is evidence of our long-standing commitment to the health of Arizona," said Jean Kalbacher, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Arizona.
• UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Arizona currently serves more than 8,600 long-term care EPD members in north and central Arizona by providing integrated whole-person care, including case management and long-term services and supports.