Electric Scooters Could Reduce City Journey Times

We all hate sitting in traffic when the roads in our cities are congested. Slow journey times, traffic noise, increased stress and pollution… and then trying to find somewhere to park once you arrive.

Mircomobility devices (electric scooters, electric unicycles, electric skateboards) could be the answer!  A recent study has found that electric scooters would beat cars on up to 70% of city center journeys in the UK.

“Electric scooters could cut journey times in some of the UK’s most gridlocked cities by up to 70 percent if they were made road legal, a new study has revealed.

With an average speed of 12mph, electric scooters and bikes could complete short journeys quicker than vehicles in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Sheffield, according to traffic information supplier Inrix. Researchers evaluated trillions of pieces of data from connected devices including cars, mobile phones and road sensors and found that more than two-thirds of car journeys in congested urban areas are less than three miles (4.8km).

If a fraction of these were replaced with scooter and bike trips, cities could “reap significant benefits” Inrix said, with Manchester identified the UK city which would stand to see its journey times reduced most.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/09/electric-scooters-would-beat-cars-70-per-cent-city-centre-journeys/

Cycling has long been the green alternative to using your car but, depending upon where you are going, using a Rideable which you can easily pick up and take into the office or on the train, maybe a more attractive option to persuade people to leave the car at home. You don’t need to take a shower on arrival at work and your electric scooter or electric unicycle won’t be stolen from under your desk.

Rideables.org co-founder Stuart Chessell commented that “portable electric transport devices are the ideal solution for short trips or first and last-mile transport. The technology is available now, the devices are relatively cheap and almost anyone can ride them.

The government is currently looking at how their use can be integrated into our existing transport networks. We understand that dockless hire schemes have received some adverse publicity and that any such schemes in the UK will need careful scrutiny but these problems do not apply to the users of privately owned devices. Rideables.org would urge the government of the UK to consider the legalization of privately owned Rideables in the short term whilst issues with dockless hire schemes are addressed. This would be an easy win and have positive effects on city congestion and pollution levels”

http://inrix.com/campaigns/micromobility-study-2019/