The UK has performed poorly in a European-wide ranking of 42 cities on its efforts at introducing shared, zero-emissions transport.
The ‘Thank you for Sharing‘ report from Clean Cities Campaign ranks a cities progress on four indicators of shared and zero-emission transport – these are shared bikes and scooters; zero-emissions buses; shared EVs; and EV charging points.
Greater Manchester came in last place at 42nd, Birmingham came in 39th place, Edinburgh 38th, Glasgow 25th, and Greater London 24th – a poor performance compared to other European capitals including Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris.
Copenhagen and Oslo came in first and second place respectively. Beyond the usual strong performers, other cities doing well include Ljubljana, Budapest and Milan.
For shared bikes, Helsinki came out top with over 20,000 shared bikes. Edinburgh, on the other hand, does not have a single shared bike.
The findings suggest that the goal of reducing harmful emissions from road transport in cities can be supported by making it easier for citizens to ditch private ownership of vehicles. Shared micromobility services offer a cheap and quick way to complement longer-term infrastructure projects, such as building a new tube line.
Oliver Lord, Head of UK for the Clean Cities Campaign told Zag Daily: “Industry experts point out the UK is the only developed country with no legalisation for e-scooters. The long awaited Transport Bill was meant to address this but we’re all in the dark as to whether it will now see the light of day.
“The fact e-scooters have been on endless trials for years is an example of how city leaders are often held back by this government, whether that is scarce funding or a lack of powers. I really hope the UK doesn’t miss out on these quick, scalable and cost effective solutions in the race to net zero because there is too much at stake.”
Pauline Aymonier, Co-Chair of Micro-Mobility for Europe (MMfE) said in a LinkedIn post: “We are glad that the Clean Cities Campaign recognises shared mobility, such as shared e-bikes and e-scooters, as an integral pillar of our urban transport systems.
“Shared micro-mobility has a key role to play in helping cities reach their climate ambitions by strengthening local public transport networks, offering first and last-mile options and reducing dependency on privately owned cars.
“We therefore join CCC’s call on cities and governments to unlock the full potential of shared solutions notably by prioritising space and infrastructure dedicated to these modes.”
