E-scooter rentals could replace five million car trips in London, Tier finds

London’s recently launched e-scooter schemes could replace five million car trips in the capital every year if it reaches full capacity, according to analysis from one of its chosen e-scooter operators Tier.  

Research by the micromobility company found if running at capacity each of the capital’s three operators, which also includes Dott and Lime, could run a fleet of 6,600 e-scooters.

By assessing usage data from operations across 115 cities in the UK and wider Europe, Tier has estimated a utilisation rate of four rides per day per scooter in the capital. This means there will be nearly 80,000 rides per day on e-scooters and over 29 million a year.

According to its own consumer research, 17.3% of trips taken on rental e-scooters replace car journeys. When applying this to London, Tier calculates that 4.9 million car journeys can be replaced by e-scooters every year.

Commenting on the findings, Tier regional manager, Fred Jones, said: “The potential environmental benefits of switching from cars to e-scooters for short journeys are absolutely staggering when you think about the size and scale of London and the number of vehicles on the roads.

“The mayor is rightly committed to improving London’s air quality, and that’s what makes the launch of-scooter schemes in the capital so exciting – it’s a unique opportunity to rethink urban transport in the capital and to reduce pollution levels.

“As the first carbon neutral e-scooter operator in the world, we are passionate about offering more sustainable transport and are excited to see the positive impact rental e-scooters can have on congestion in the city.”

Tier also assessed the potential CO2 reduction, the operator said if all one-mile car trips in the capital were replaced by rental e-scooter trips there could be a 233-tonne daily reduction in CO2 emissions.

Silviya Barrett, head of policy, research and projects at Campaign for Better Transport, said: “To combat a worrying rise in car use and air pollution post-pandemic, we need plenty of green travel options available in towns and cities to suit everyone’s needs.

“Using e-scooters and other forms of micro mobility in combination with London’s extensive public transport network in place of some journeys currently made by car can bring significant health and environmental benefits.”

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