Over one in five e-scooter rental journeys replacing private car and taxi commutes

Over one in five e-scooter rental journeys replace private motor vehicles or taxi commutes.

In response to an inquiry made by Rachael Maskell MP, the Secretary of State for Transport's department has revealed that rental e-scooters are steadily replacing some private motor vehicle and taxi journeys for commuting purposes.

The "National E-scooter Evaluation" indicates that as of December 2021, 21% of rental e-scooter journeys accounted for a shift from using private motor vehicles or taxis for transportation.

The Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, Anthony Browne, highlighted the findings in a debate, stating that the evaluation showed a promising trend towards reducing reliance on motor vehicles. The assessment indicated that while walking journeys accounted for the majority of the initial mode changes (42%), over time, the proportion of private motor vehicle or taxi journeys being substituted increased.

Anthony Browne, Conservative MO for South Cambridgeshire, said: “The National E-scooter Evaluation found that by December 2021 rental e-scooter journeys mostly replaced walking journeys (42%), followed by private motor vehicles or taxis (21%). However, the proportion of walking journeys being replaced reduced over time, while the proportion of private motor vehicle or taxi journeys being replaced increased over time.

“One of the potential benefits of using an e-scooter instead of driving is that it may reduce emissions and improve air quality. The National E-scooter Evaluation estimated a total reduction of between 269 and 348 tonnes of CO2e (to December 2021) across the five case study areas due to modal shift from cars to rental e-scooters.

“The Department has made no assessment on the potential impact of shared bike or e-bike schemes on the levels of active travel, air quality or emissions.”