Skip to main content

Bird: e-scooters will ‘replace short car trips in London’

More than half of car trips in the city of London are less than three miles with an average occupancy of just over one person, says Bird. 
By Ben Spencer February 17, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Bird reckons its e-scooters can reduce a 25-minute car journey in London to around 10 minutes (Source: © Tobias Arhelger | Dreamstime.com)

Speaking at Move2020, Caroline Hazlehurst, senior director of EMEA operations, says: “The journey takes much longer than it should with the average time for a trip around 25 minutes. Alternatives like electric scooters could do that same distance in roughly 10 minutes or less.”

“If you give people a true alternative to the car they will use it, and adoption has been unprecedented,” she added. 

Hazlehurst said the company is aiming to take cars off the road, reduce congestion and emissions while also making cities more liveable. 

“In the US, over a thousand million metric tonnes of CO2 is produced from car travel and we want to replace as many of those trips as possible with emissions-free transportation,” she continued. “If we were to do that by 10%, that would be the same as taking about 28 coal-fired power plants offline for a year.”

Hazlehurst claimed the firm’s Bird 2 scooter has a 60% longer battery-life than the previous generation.

“The vehicle self-reports damage through sensors which flag potential issues, a dual anti-tipping kick stand to help keep the vehicle upright and puncture-proof tyres which self-seal,” she added. 

 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Investing in ITS: Show us the money
    April 8, 2022
    The ITS industry is currently attracting a lot of interest from private equity and venture capital providers. Adam Hill asks some of the people who have their eyes on the market what makes it such a good bet
  • Plug-in vehicles set to increase in popularity
    January 11, 2016
    The demand for plug-in vehicles (PIVs) has increased in the UK over the last number of years, says UK Construction Media. According to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the number of electric car registrations has increased substantially over the past 12 months. An average of 2,400 electrical vehicles was registered per month in 2015 compared with just 500 at the beginning of 2014. It is estimated that the total number of electrical vehicles on the UK roads total
  • Countering congestion’s cost
    May 6, 2015
    A new report on the economic costs of traffic congestion predicts the problem will worsen significantly in future. Jon Masters reviews the figures and some suggested solutions. New figures on the rising economic and environmental costs of congestion have been published by the US traffic data specialist Inrix and the UK’s Centre for Economics & Business Research (Cebr). Their report finds the problem much bigger than previously thought.
  • Stepped speed limits improve workzone congestion and safety
    January 30, 2012
    Traffic flow has been improved, congestion eased and safety increased - by a system of 'stepped speed limits' introduced to UK roadworks. URS Scott Wilson principal consultant Jamie Uff reports