£11,500 is what each rental e-scooter is worth per year to local economies, according to the latest research from micromobility business, Neuron Mobility.
The Singapore-based company operates three UK government-approved e-scooter rental trial schemes, one each in Newcastle, Slough and Sunderland. It has recently surveyed users in all three cities for a new so-called "prosperity report" which is titled 'Shared Rides, Shared Wealth.' While everyone expects a report commissioned by an e-scooter business to highlight these e-vehicles positively, there is some interesting data in there.
Neuron claims in this report that e-scooter riders collectively spend £14.9 million a year in local businesses across the three regions, with Newcastle alone accounting for £8.9 million. According to the report's data, 70% of Neuron e-scooter trips result in a direct purchase from a local business, with an average spend of £17.30.
More than a third of riders (37%) said they made purchases at shops, with 35% stopping at a restaurant or a cafe and 18% at an entertainment venue or the gym.
Remarkably, the survey shows 10% of those trips wouldn’t have happened if e-scooters weren’t available (as these trips are over a mile in distance), while 41% of trips replaced a car journey (from 3 to 5 miles). The firm says that this means saving around 165 tonnes of CO2 that would have been generated by cars on those trips. If compared to the size of the population in these specific areas, it is a great amount of CO2.
The aforementioned report also investigated how people used rental e-scooters. Neuron says that 62% of all trips were for leisure, while 38% were for ‘purposeful’ trips such as commuting to work or university, 29% for shopping, while 19% of people used them to get to appointments (friends, family etc).
Cormac Quinn, Neuron’s UK chief, said: “Our vision has always been to partner with cities to help them build a more prosperous and sustainable future. We’re heartened that our new report clearly demonstrates we’re on the right track.”
The data in the report also provides further detail about how and where people use e-scooters in cities (Thank to the geolocation or GPS of these devices). In Newcastle, 38% of all trips started within a core section of the central shopping area, with the average trip taking nine minutes and covering a mile. 70% of trips either started or finished at one of the city’s main public transport stations, with 20% of journeys combined with public transport.
Local economies need e-scooters and commuters will enjoy and benefit from riding this new e-tech around cities and across cities. These new vehicles will solve many issues for commuters as well as small business which are vital for not only the local economy but nationally.
We hope the Government and many more councils will soon realise that more rental-schemes are needed to enrich all of us.
Reference link: Neuron Mobility