MICROMOBILITY
giving our e-scooters new brains we are able to keep using the same hardware for an extra three to five years, which improves the lifetime sustainability of our vehicles too!
How has the shared transport market changed in the past year?
The biggest change in the last year has been as a result of the changing economic environment. We have had to switch from a rapid expansion approach to one focused on getting to profitability more quickly, and that has been the case for all operators. We are also in a period where the original tenders
to provide e-scooter and e-bike services in the UK are coming up for renewal, which has been a time where the industry has had to prove its ability to deliver mode shift away from cars and operate safe and sustainable services. The fact that the vast majority of towns and cities are choosing to re-tender is a sign that shared micromobility is proving to be a beneficial addition to people’s lives, reducing traffic and helping reduce local air pollution.
What future developments do you see for the micromobility industry? Given the need to focus on profitability across the industry we expect to see a period of consolidation. We are already seeing some of the smaller operators merging and we expect that trend to continue. An emerging trend amongst local authorities is a desire to offer multi-modal micromobility services. Rather than just offering e-scooter or just e-bikes, local authorities are recognising that a combination of vehicles, both docked and dockless, can be tailored to suit their specific needs.
Tier has been in the UK over eight years and operates four of the five longest-serving schemes, so we are well-placed to adapt to these changes and continue to be the partner of choice for cities to help them drive the shift to sustainable transport.
www.bikebiz.com July 2023 | 43
Can you tell us a bit more about the referendum in Paris, what it means or Tier and the wider industry? We’ve had a bit of time to digest the results of the Paris referendum by now and to understand what happened and why. The way the referendum was run didn’t allow for the voice of all Parisians to be heard and arguably it was set up to fail the industry and e-scooter users from the outset. Only 100,000 people voted, in a city of 2 million with 3.5 million daily commuters, amongst which 400,000 people have been using e-scooters every day in the city. There was no online option to vote and the voting took place on the busy weekend of the Paris Marathon with polling stations only available in very few locations. Wait times to vote were extremely high, all of which came together to
Regional general manager for Northern Europe with Tier, Fred Jones
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