Spin, the micromobility unit of Ford Motor Company, has reached the milestone of 1,000,000 rides taken by its users across its locations in the UK.
The micromobility operator, which launched in 2020 as part of a government-led trial, said the milestone demonstrates that shared e-scooters are becoming a popular means of transport in the UK.
The operator will continue to lead trials in Milton Keynes and its five Essex locations in partnership with the Department for Transport, local authorities and numerous local stakeholder groups.
Cllr Lee Scott, Essex County Council cabinet member for highways maintenance and sustainable transport, said: “There’s been a huge interest in the Essex e-scooter trial since it launched in December 2020 with nearly 700,000 rides to date.
“It’s really positive we’re seeing people switch their mode of travel, opting to use e-scooters instead of cars. This fits with our safer, greener, healthier ambition to encourage Essex residents to walk, cycle or scoot, especially for shorter journeys.
“Safety is of paramount importance to Essex County Council and we have teamed up with 15 local accessibility groups to form the Essex E-Scooter Trial Access Stakeholder Group. This group enables vulnerable road users to give us their feedback directly, which helps ECC keep the scheme constantly under review and make changes where necessary. For example, under the direction of this group, we have brought down the maximum speed of e-scooters from 15mph to 12.5mph.”
Furthermore, a recent rider survey highlighted that e-scooters are bring used for commuting and running errands as well as leisure trips. Riders said they use the scheme primarily to commute to work, with 41% of Essex and Milton Keynes residents surveyed recently contesting this, closely followed by running general errands (40%) and riding for fun (37%).
It also found that during a typical week, more than half of the riders (55%) use at least one of the shared e-scooter trips to connect to public transport.
Cllr Jenny Wilson-Marklew, cabinet member for climate action and sustainability at Milton Keynes Council, added: “We want Milton Keynes to have the most sustainable transport system in the country by 2031, providing people with real transport choices. I am pleased to see this milestone support that vision, demonstrating a clear appetite among our residents and visitors to embrace greener transport methods.”
