FEATURE
towards the end of last year, with a declaration published on accelerating the transition to 100% zero emission cars and vans. “As governments, we will work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission by 2040 or earlier, or by no later than 2035 in leading markets,” the declaration began, but there were initially concerns that there was no mention of committing to active travel. A final paragraph was added at the last minute, which
read: “We recognise that alongside the shift to zero emission vehicles, a sustainable future for road transport will require wider system transformation, including support for active travel, public and shared transport, as well as addressing the full value chain impacts from vehicle production, use and disposal.”
Badoux said: “I’m really excited to see so many people talking about the electrification of mobility, but actually COP was talking a lot more about the electrification of cars. Bikes, walking, e-scooters and micromobility are what we need to be
‘There are still a lot of issues around car-centric mobility, whether they’re electric or not’
pushing. We need to be pushing behaviour changes. We need to be pushing a new paradigm of how we move around cities. “I’m all for electrifying cars, but you can electrify all cars and still have congestion and unequal access to green spaces. There are still a lot of issues around car-centric mobility, whether they’re electric or not.”
E-scooter trials Regulation allowing trials of rental e-scooters in the UK came into force on 4th July 2020, with many operators quickly setting up schemes. Voi’s e-scooters and e-bikes are available in several cities across the UK, including Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Northampton, Bath, Cambridge, Oxford, Portsmouth and Southampton. “We’re seeing tremendous uptake in our British cities,” Badoux said. “There is a really high utilisation for our vehicles which does indicate that there is appetite and interest. We need to have trials where there is an adequate number of scooters and an adequate operation size, and that’s what we’ve been struggling with in some areas of the UK. “If there is a city of 300,000 people that only has a few
hundred scooters on the road, you can’t expect the same benefits as a service that really was reliable, where people know they can find a scooter when they need it and get to where they need to go. “We’re also trying to solve the issue of parking. One of the things I keep seeing is that cities are giving pedestrian space to micromobility.” Space should instead be reallocated from cars to more sustainable modes, Badoux said. “In the beginning, people are obviously going to be a bit upset because they can’t park their cars, but once we make the infrastructure around these modes safer, that’s where we’re going to get the behaviour change. “If it’s easy to drive, and that’s what we’ve done with car-
centric urban planning, then of course, that’s what people will choose. We really need strong leadership and politicians to drive this change.”
Paradigm shift Looking forward, we need more protected space, continues Badoux. This is especially important to encourage those who may otherwise be reluctant to take up active travel. “We do see that micromobility is a bit more gender equal
Voi is seeing ‘tremendous’ uptake in its British cities
than traditional cycling most times,” says Badoux, “but we still have more men than women using our service. One of the main barriers for more women and other groups is safety. We need safe infrastructure – cycling lanes and space to park the scooters. “A study by the International Transport Forum showed that 80% of serious accidents on a bike or an e-scooter involves
22 | January 2022
www.bikebiz.com
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