Micromobility:

moving cities into a

sustainable future
 PR
Building a more sustainable urban around Europe. We were already
transport system has been a central working with them to help them assess
focus for cities globally with the goal the environmental impacts associated
of creating a well-connected seamless with all the stages of the scooters
mobility experience while reducing life-cycle and through our work we
traffic, noise and pollution. Despite all knew they had an extensive database
the careful planning by government of use data collected that we could
officials to that end, the rise of utilize in our analysis. With Voi’s
micromobility has been an unexpected, permission, we were able to take
grassroots success story of recent a deep dive into data and test our
years in the urban transport sector. hypotheses regarding the benefits of
In cities across Europe, the US and scooter use. In addition, Voi gave us
Asia, thousands of users are taking permission to publish the data and
advantage of a growing range of shared share the insights across the industry.
micromobility options. E-scooters in
particular are growing in popularity With Voi data in hand, we took
at an incredible rate, surpassing our analysis one step further and
an estimated 20 million users in interviewed city officials in major
Europe alone. With this adoption cities across six European countries
of micromobility and e-scooters to understand their view of the role
growing at an unprecedented speed, of e-scooters for urban development.
could e-scooters be the critical link Finally, to interpret the findings
to help speed up a transition toward and derive recommendations for
sustainable, people-centric cities that how cities can unlock the benefits
leads to improved quality of life? Does of micromobility to create more
micromobility truly deliver a sustainable sustainable and accessible cities,
impact that can be replicated in cities we enlisted the help of EY subject-
around the world? matter professionals across several
practice areas, including Climate
As market observers, we could see
the possibilities and opportunities
Change and Sustainability, Future of
Mobility and Strategy.
Contents
that micromobility offered, but we At a glance ....................................... 4
needed real-world data to confirm We think you will find the resulting Micromobility — more than
our hypotheses about the benefits of report interesting and enlightening. fun and games ................................ 6
an integrated multi-modal mobility Our aim is to transparently share
these relevant findings across the A two-year old industry
ecosystem. To find the data, we turned
industry and derive recommendations maturing fast ................................ 10
to one of our clients, Voi Technology,
one of the original scooter operator for collaboration between operators Environmental contribution
pioneers in Europe with currently more and regulators to unlock the benefits of scooters ..................................... 18
than 4+ million scooters in operation of micromobility for cities around
How can cities
the world.
unleash the potential of
micromobility? ............................ 28
The path to a sustainable
Thomas Holm Møller John Simlett
Partner, Digital Leader EY Global Future of
future ............................................... 32
EY-Parthenon (EY BOX) Mobility Leader Sources ........................................... 34
PRE
FACE
At a glance
Rapid adoption of First Life-Cycle Adapted policies enable
e-scooters indicates Assessment published e-scooters to support
potential to transform by an operator shows sustainable mobility and
urban mobility habits 71% reduction in enhance quality of life
In the span of the last two years,
emissions over one year E-scooters, however, are no silver
e-scooters have evolved from a bullet. Their main contribution lies in
While early-stage practices drew
gadget to a sustainable shared improving access to public transport
criticism, the industry has innovated
micromobility option that may help and supporting mobility behavior
and matured at tremendous speed,
cities curb congestion and pollution transformation to reduce taxi and
improving their environmental impact
levels and improving quality of life. car trips in cities. To unlock their
through new operational models and
Featuring extraordinary adoption potential, it’s vital that governments
hardware. The EY Climate Change
rates — estimated to be four times and cities implement policies while
and Sustainability Services practice
faster than that of e-bike sharing addressing the challenges. That
conducted a full Life-Cycle Assessment
schemes, surpassing 20 million includes making clear regulations
of an operator’s (Voi Technology)
users in Europe — e-scooters have that foster responsible and
service. Voi agreed to be the first
the potential to serve as a catalyst sustainable behavior and enabling
operator to share these insights
toward post-car inner cities by access to micromobility infrastructure,
publicly. Taking Voi’s Paris service as an
becoming the missing last-mile such as parking and lanes.
example, we assessed current practices
complement to public transport and
and the contribution of the latest
helping change urban mobility habits. innovations and share our insights.
Cities are taking different approaches We found that the combined initiatives
to this mobility option, increasingly yielded a 71% reduction in emissions
using tenders and licenses to cap since January 2019, resulting in
the number of operators and set
35g CO2 equivalent per person per
operational, safety and
kilometer, on par with many public
sustainability requirements.
transport options. Swappable battery
scooters and cargo bike operations
drive a 51% reduction.

4 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

Contribution
This report sets out to assess the Paris operations and have given us
potential contribution of e-scooters insight into its key initiatives. Our
to urban mobility and aim is to transparently share these
decarbonization. It presents city relevant findings across the industry
perspectives and considers the and derive recommendations for
latest innovations of the rapidly collaboration between operators and
evolving sector. Voi Technology regulators to unlock the benefits
has given EY permission to publish of micromobility for active and
the latest data collected for its sustainable cities.
Life-Cycle Assessment based on its

This information is based on a non-verified LCA study, performed by EY, considering the full life cycle of a Voi
e-scooter service (model: Voiager 3) and based on data from Voi for the city of Paris. EY has performed the LCA
study in line with the ISO 14040/44 standards, modeled using SimaPro 8.5.2, EcoInvent 3 database and ILCD
2011 Midpoint+ V1.10 / EC-JRC Global, equal weighting impact method.

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 5

1
Micromobility — more
than fun and games
In cities across Europe, America and Asia, millions of people have adopted a growing
range of shared micromobility options. While bike and e-bike sharing schemes have
become increasingly popular over the past five years, no one anticipated the massive
uptake of e-scooters. Overnight, people riding through cities on e-scooters have
become a common sight around the world. Within two years of the first service’s
launch by Bird, in Santa Monica, California, in September 2017, e-scooter sharing
services have reached 626 cities across 53 countries.1

6 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

Cities tackling demands of a growing population

626
and a modern economy. There is
car-centric mobility
increasing awareness around the
Today’s cities are facing alarming air burdens of car-centric mobility linked
and CO2 pollution rates — with cars to pollution, noise and inefficient
as the main driver.2 Decarbonizing use of limited space. Post-car city
urban transport is now a central focus road maps are becoming common. E-scooter sharing
of global, national and city climate Paris has been first to set remarkable services have reached
plans. The C40 network is challenging targets: zero diesel cars by 2024 626 cities across
cities to draft high-ambition, Paris and zero fossil fuel cars by 2030, 53 countries since
Agreement compatible climate plans, with Mayor Anne Hidalgo committing launching two years ago
with cities like Paris, Stockholm and to green mobility and 1000 km of
London paving the way. Cities must cycling lanes across the city with her
reduce pollution, congestion and “15 minute city” plan.
noise while meeting the mobility

The burden of car-centric urban mobility

• Climate change: transport is Europe’s largest source of GHG emissions, contributing to 27% of the EU’s total
CO2 emissions.2

• Air quality: air pollution levels exceed safe levels in many European cities, leading to premature deaths.3

• Noise: the EU estimates that 40% of Europeans are exposed to dangerous levels of road traffic-related noise,
impacting mental health and well-being.4

• Congestion: the average person living in Paris spends 65 hours in traffic per year, compared with 49 in Munich and
35 in Stockholm, leading to a loss of productivity.5 Reduced commuting time is a strong predictor of well-being and
has been linked to poverty alleviation.

• Space: research in Stockholm shows that 50% of the city’s space is allocated to roads and car parking.6 This rate is
similar across European cities.7

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 7

Micromobility: enabler of a We have talked to city officials in seven cities across six
sustainable mobility mix? European countries.
New micromobility options promise
a convenient and affordable
complement to public transport,
unlocking the first and last miles,
and improving accessibility. But to
what extent are e-scooters a solution
to the pressing urban development
challenges we face today?

EY reached out to cities across Stockholm

Sweden
Europe, which have different Gothenburg
Sweden
regulations and approaches to Aarhus
Denmark
e-scooters that have yielded various
outcomes. We spoke to city officials Hamburg
Germany
from seven European cities to Eindhoven
understand their view of the role of Netherlands

e-scooters for urban development.

Astrid Zwegers and Jan Willem van Bordeaux

France
der Pas, who are leading a pioneering
MaaS project in Eindhoven and
Madrid
are set to include e-scooters once Spain
they are made legal in the country,
comment that “The main upside of
micromobility is that it contributes
to building a more sustainable
city, with well-connected seamless
mobility while reducing traffic. We
aim to provide citizens with a shared
mobility network that improves
urban sustainability by encouraging taking responsibility for their offer can help decrease pollution, noise
multi-modal transport rather than and making it more sustainable. and congestion levels, while using
cars.” Christian Humpert, Officer Unlocking the sustainability benefits urban space more efficiently. Could
for climate-related matters in urban is the next big step for us.” e-scooters help speed up a transition
transportation in Hamburg, is positive toward people-centric cities and
If able to improve public transport improve quality of life?
about the potential of e-scooters: “We
access and replace ride-hailing,
see the e-scooters sharing providers
taxis and private cars, e-scooters

8 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

Main benefits and challenges

Benefits Challenges

1 Environmental footprint — improve

1 Modal shift — an issue if e-scooters take
urban air quality and reduce climate change passengers from bikes and walking
instead of cars
2 Get people out of their cars
2 Infrastructure — cities are not yet set up for
3 Efficient mobility — provide convenient the new micromobility options
and flexible transportation for citizens
and tourists
3 Visual pollution — people don’t take care of
the scooters and throw them all over the city

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 9

2
A two-year old industry
maturing fast
In less than two years, the e-scooter sector has matured and innovated at tremendous
speed. The abrupt introduction of the new mode, often without suitable regulatory
frameworks, led to a number of challenges. Under pressure to expand rapidly, early stage
companies sometimes resorted to unadapted hardware or operating models, leading
to socially and environmentally questionable practices. Increasing criticism around the
negative environmental impact of these services, unsafe riding behavior and poor parking
fueled the debate, leading some to call for an outright ban of e-scooter sharing.

Rapid improvement

Nonetheless, e-scooter
operators are demonstrating
their ability to learn, adapt
and drive sustainable
innovation. Today,
companies like Voi, a
European e-scooter leader,
are pioneering sustainable
practices, working together
with cities, their suppliers
and users to reduce the
environmental impact and
responsibly integrate the
service in cities. We take a
look at key improvement
areas and innovations.

10 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

1. Cities are embracing micromobility
While still in a learning phase, Some cities are enabling collaboration through tenders
a surge in e-scooter regulation and licenses. Enabled by national
benefits ...
across the world and particularly legislation, these cities are setting
in Europe indicates that cities are “We see a shift in cities from the ‘Wild requirements and limiting the number
embracing the trend. Since 2018, West’ (unregulated micromobility) to of players, creating an environment
European countries started to include stricter regulation and lately toward conducive to responsible and
e-scooters into road safety codes and flexible regulatory frameworks sustainable practices.
national law. France, for instance, linked to operators’ performance
adopted the eagerly awaited Loi indicators, using incentives and ... but others are
d’orientation des mobilités (LOM) in penalties backed up by data,” states
restricting them
December 2019, which enables cities Diego Canales, Head of Strategic
to regulate e-scooters. However, Partnerships at Populus, a platform Alongside promising policies are
attempts to regulate e-scooters that helps cities manage shared examples of poorly designed city
vary from city to city, with diverging mobility. French, Belgian and German regulations that hamper potential
outcomes. cities have been at the forefront of benefits — often because of little
creating frameworks for city-operator or no direction from the national
level. Rather than addressing

Voi in numbers
Since launch in August 2018:

10 16m 400+
Countries Rides Employees

35+ 4m 10+
Cities Users Licenses

Source: Voi Technology company data

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 11

common issues, local authorities can help reduce car use. Voi’s user
are creating an environment that surveys9, 11 show that 63% of users Voi and Hochbahn —
neither benefits users, nor allows combine e-scooters with public
unlocking the first
operators to provide a quality service. transport, indicating e-scooters
Fleet sizes are capped low, spread do in fact act as a feeder to public
and last mile in
out among 10+ operators thwarting transport. suburban areas
the user experience and increasing
the complexity of management for Collaboration between public Hochbahn customers living
the city. In these cities, companies transport and e-scooter operators in Poppenbüttel and Berne
struggle to achieve profitability, is becoming common, ranging from benefited from reduced ride
hindering long-term investment in data sharing and passenger deals prices (no unlocking fee and
sustainable operations. Examples are to integrated payment and MaaS reduced price per minute) on
Madrid, which granted licenses to solutions. A recent partnership their daily commute during a
22 players, each assigned to specific between Hamburg’s Hochbahn pilot phase. The first three-
neighborhoods, or Copenhagen, and Voi aimed to improve mobility
month evaluation concludes
which is set to grant a license to 11 offering reach in suburban areas.
the partnership has been a
companies for 300 e-scooters each. “Moving forward, we’ll see an
success: 40,000 commuter
Certain cities require all e-scooters, increase of cities subsidizing trips on
routes that might not be profitable
trips were enabled to and
even charged ones, to be taken
but provide social value, just as we from public transport hubs,
off the streets at night, increasing
see with public transport,” comments improving accessibility in the
unnecessary CO2 emissions.
Diego Canales from Populus. suburban area.

2. A complement to
3. E-scooter lifespan:
public transportation
from months to years
Well aware that the first- and last-
mile problem is a key barrier to In order to reach the market rapidly, Leveraging data from millions
public transport adoption, public many operators started operations of rides, the industry has made
transit operators have been keen with off-the-shelf e-scooters not enormous improvements in terms
to experiment with micromobility designed for shared use. It turned of hardware design. E-scooters are
services. Analyzing navigation and out that these scooters could easily designed for intense, shared use
Google Maps data, researchers in be hacked and privatized, and were and outdoor conditions, improving
France found that the best predictor vulnerable to vandalism. Reports lifespan and safety. Voi’s latest
of switching between a car ride and surfaced that scooters only lasted Voiager 3 scooter is estimated to
public transit was easier access to weeks or months before they were have an average operational lifespan
public transport, rather than an no longer usable. However, Voi data of 24 months.
improved public transport quality.8 shows that investment in repairs
Along these lines, Eindhoven mobility allowed even first generation
experts point out that encouraging e-scooters to last longer than
multi-modal and shared mobility expected, reaching 12 months in
certain cities.

12 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

 63%
of Voi’s users have used
a combination of public
transport and scooter to
complete their journey

4. Swappable
e-scooters — from
diesel vans to
electric cargo bikes
Navigating congested cities on Swappable batteries: reducing the service’s energy
lightweight electric vehicles sounds consumption and congestion
a sustainability game
great. Behind the scenes, however, contribution. Voi has started
changer deploying swappable battery scooters
these services have until now relied
on networks of vans to collect low- This latest innovation removes in France and the Nordics, but
battery scooters, bring them to a the need to transport e-scooters stays committed to using previous
charging station, and deploy them for charging. Only batteries are models as long as possible to avoid
once again across the city. Enabled transported to be charged and unnecessary production of new
by hardware innovations, operators swapped on the spot, drastically scooters.
are redesigning their operational
models to reduce the environmental
impact of the service. Initiatives
include electrifying the service fleet
and sourcing renewable energy.
For instance, Voi has 100% electric The latest Voiager 3 scooter
operations in certain French, German
and Nordic cities, with plans to features swappable batteries
scale these up.
and is expected to have a
24-month lifespan
Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 13
5. From piles of 6. From freelance

12%
e-scooters to orderly workers to employees
parking In early days, certain players relied
on freelance or gig workers to collect
As e-scooters took Europe by storm,
and charge scooters, a model still
piles of scooters littering sidewalks of e-scooter rides are
used in the US and Latin America.
became a common sight. Free- replacing cars, taxis or
In Europe, however, pressure from
floating services effectively help ride hailing services
regulators and an internal push to
solve first- and last-mile gaps but
streamline processes prompted
come with challenges related to
most operators to rapidly abandon
parking and use of public space.
the practice. Operators now work
with logistics partners or in-house
Operators and cities
employees, providing workers with
are developing parking formal contracts and benefits.
solutions Professionalizing operations leads
Whirlwind adoption
Cities are starting to allocate space to greater control over the quality A mobility adoption rate study of
to new modes of transport, either and sustainability of operations. Fully Paris conducted by mobility research-
by converting empty space or car owned or partnership operations oriented firm 6t found that the
parking spots. Voi developed a allow operators to guarantee the adoption of e-scooters was four times
solution leveraging geofencing type of vehicles that are used for faster than the e-bike scheme Vélib,
technology called Incentivized operations, energy source for a publicly backed and financed
Parking Zones (IPZ), which charging (renewable vs. not) and service, taking only six months to
encourages users to park in city- optimize operations. reach Velib’s two-year mode share.10
designated parking hubs with a ride The whirlwind uptake indicates
discount. First piloted in Aarhus, the 7. Moving toward promising potential for driving
behavior change. Prof. Grant-Muller
solution has since been rolled out
a sustainable from Leeds University, points to the
to other cities and has become an
industry leading practice. In Aarhus, mobility mix challenge of changing mobility habits
60% of e-scooter rides end in parking with barriers ranging from value
A barrier to the sustainability impact systems, social status, infrastructure,
hubs, indicating that it is possible
of e-scooters is that they may fail to finances and more. She points to
to foster responsible behavior and
replace cars, limiting their potential the need to act early and target
a culture of shared mobility. Other
urban mobility decarbonization young people, encouraging them to
solutions include infrastructure
contribution. Voi surveys9 indicate use public transport and alternative
solutions such as parking racks, which
that 12% of trips replace cars; can mobility to avoid creating habits that
Voi is rolling out in several cities.
this increase over time? are hard to change.

14 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

 While people try e-scooters for
fun, convenience seems to keep
people coming back

E-scooters accumulate over 300 million trips globally just two years after launch.

Historical growth of e-scooters compared to other modes

100,000,000,000

10,000,000,000

1,000,000,000

100,000,000
Cumulative number of trips

10,000,000

1,000,000

100,000

10,000

1,000
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10

E-scooters Ride-hailing (Uber + Lyft) Car-sharing Shared bikes

Note: Ride hailing includes only Uber and Lyft data; car sharing excludes peer-to-peer car-sharing trips. Year 1 for car sharing and shared bikes based on
first available data.
Source: EY research, UC Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center, PLOS ONE, company websites.

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 15

 Drivers of e-scooter use Commuter trips and car
evolve over time replacement increase
A closer look at the motivations of over time
scooter users shows an evolution as This suggests that as a service
the service matures and indicates it matures, it is increasingly likely to be
can be induced through partnerships used for commuting purposes rather
between public transport and than leisure. This could be linked to
micromobility operators. For example, increased reliability of service, and to
the 6t study shows that in the early the fact that citizens have now had
stages, the main drivers of scooter the time to integrate the new service
adoption are fun and time saved.10 into their daily commutes.
A user survey conducted by Voi in
July 2019 across 3,700 respondents Gustav Friis from the City of
from 31 European11 cities shows an Aarhus, where Voi won an exclusive
increase in functional trips such as concession, comments on the same
work and errand commutes in cities trend: “In the beginning, we saw
where shared e-scooters have been little scooter use in the morning.
around the longest. Ride pattern We are now starting to see morning
analysis shows that in the early commuter use, which is a really
stages, more trips were taken over good sign.” While people may try
the weekend in cities like Stockholm, e-scooters for fun, convenience
Berlin and Oslo, potentially indicating seems to be what keeps people
leisure use. Over time, the difference coming back. Emerging traffic
between weekday and weekend trips data from Stockholm is showing an
balances out. encouraging trend. For the first time
since 2012, traffic has decreased in
the capital announced the
Vice Mayor, Head of Traffic Division,
Daniel Hellden12 — the same year
e-scooters were widely introduced.

Researchers found that the best predictor of

switching between a car ride and public transit
was easier access to public transport
16 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future
Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 17
3
Environmental
contribution of scooters
Two key drivers to improve the environmental impact of micromobility
Building a credible sustainability case for micromobility requires (1) measuring the
overall impact throughout its lifetime and (2) considering what mode of transport they
are substituting. For micromobility providers, this suggests that they must focus on:

• Reducing service emissions: reducing the overall environmental impact of their

service across the full value chain

• Modal shift: strengthening the alternative mobility offering to support a sustainable

mobility mix and help cities foster a modal shift away from cars and high-emission
forms of transport

Sustainable mobility is driven by two main factors.

Sustainability drivers Requirements for e-scooter operators

Reducing emissions from

Support cities in taking people out
each mobility mode
of their cars
Reducing
emissions from
urban mobility

Optimizing mobility mix away Reduce environmental impact

from high-emission modes of scooter services

18 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

Reducing emissions: In 2019, Voi approached the EY
A life cycle perspective Climate Change and Sustainability Life-cycle assessment
Services practice to help it
Publicly available evidence on the definition
understand their environmental
life-cycle impact of e-scooters
performance and how to improve it. The first sustainability
is limited. The North Carolina
In addition, Voi has agreed to be the driver depends on the full
University published the first life-
first operator to share the results
cycle assessment (LCA) for e-scooter environmental impact of
of its LCA publicly, believing that
sharing services in May 2019. The the mode. A full life-cycle
transparency will help regulators
study estimates the total life-cycle assessment (LCA) must be
with policy decisions. Voi’s LCA
impact of electric scooters to be
allows for European e-scooter
conducted to understand
126 grams of CO2 equivalent the climate impact of
services, including recent innovations,
emissions per person per kilometer, e-scooters, which measures
to be assessed providing insights into
roughly on par with a diesel bus.13 all environmental impacts —
the current environmental impact of
The findings sparked debate, calling direct and indirect — related
e-scooters sharing.
the sustainability claims of e-scooters
to transporting one person
into question. However, as these LCAs
for one kilometer on an
are based on a US service using a
electric scooter. This is
gig-economy model and do not
account for the many recent
needed to facilitate a
improvements of the sector, the comparison across different
study cannot directly be used modes of transport and
to assess the state of European enables cities to make
e-scooter sharing today. informed decisions about
which modes to favor.

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 19

1. E-scooters sharing

35g
transport of the e-scooters from
production sites to Europe. Emissions
case study: Paris from usage and operations have been
significantly decreased–0.3g and
EY’s full life-cycle assessment of
1.1g, respectively, thanks to the use
Voi’s Paris operations shows that
of cargo bikes and e-vans powered CO2 eq. per person per
Voi’s service emits 35g of CO2
by renewable energy. Voi’s strong kilometer for Voi’s Paris
equivalent per person per kilometer
focus on repairs, reuse of spare service with its swappable
in Paris, France, 72% lower than the
parts and recycling of materials, scooter
North Carolina University study
in collaboration with local partner
estimate for a service in Raleigh,
Paprec, enables the production
USA. The main contributors to these
impact to be offset significantly.
emissions are the production and

A full life-cycle assessment covers both direct and indirect environmental impacts.

Full life-cycle — from production to end-of-life

Usage
(Direct impact)

Dispose

Recycle
Production Transport End-of-life

Reuse

Battery swapping
Repairs and charging

Source: EY analysis.

20 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

Production is the largest contributor to carbon emissions.
Emissions split across Voi’s value chain*
Grams per person per km
5.50
4.60 0.27 1.07
58.8

Climate change 34.70

(carbon) -35.50

Particulate 0.0620 0.0030 0.0000 0.0010 0.0070 –0.0400 0.0330

matter
Photochemical
0.1800 0.0100 0.0000 0.0000 0.0200 –0.1100 0.1000
ozone formation

Acidification 0.0005 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 –0.0002 0.0003

Marine
eutrophication 0.0500 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0100 –0.0300 0.0437

Production Transport Usage Distribution Repairs End-of-life Total

Note: Carbon (CO2 eq.): potential impact on climate change; particulate matter (PM2.5 eq): potential effect of fine dust emissions on human health;
photochemical oxidation (NMVOC eq): effect of summer smog on human health; acidification (molc H+ eq): impact on soil and freshwater that becomes
more acidic due to the deposition of certain pollutants from air; marine eutrophication (N eq): the degree to which nutrients emitted in Europe reach the
oceans and lead to eutrophication.
*EY LCA analysis is based on ISO standard 14040, and based on Voi data and business assumptions. The results are not third-party verified.
Source: Voi LCA data, EY analysis.

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 21

Reducing emissions The swappable battery effect
In Q1 2019, the life-cycle assessment
of Voi’s Paris service measured CO2
equivalent per person per kilometer
at 121g, for early-generation
In Q1 2020, the transition to a fully
swappable battery scooter fleet,
which enables cargo bike operations
and increased lifespan further
71%
carbon emission reduction
scooters, a 12-month scooter lifespan reduces the emissions by 51% to 35g
and combustion engine operations. CO2 eq. per person per kilometer.
for Voi’s Paris service since
The Voiager 3 has an estimated January 2019 — thanks
In Q3 2019, emissions decreased to lifespan of 24 months, in line with to many sustainability
68g. Multiple factors contributed to the optimistic scenario of the North initiatives
this reduction, such as higher scooter Carolina University study.
lifespan, increased utilization and
fully electric operations using e-vans. Combined, these initiatives reduced
Voi’s emissions by 71% in Paris since
January 2019.

22 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

 Swappable battery scooters
enable a 51% reduction in
emissions

End-of-life treatment Nearly 90% of the Voiager 3 is

made of easily recyclable materials,
Voi uses circular economy principles,
enabling high recycling rates for
reusing scooter parts where possible
scooter parts that cannot be reused.
and partnering with leading recycling
In Paris, Paprec’s network achieves
experts such as Paprec in France
a 99% or above recycling rate for
and Fortum in Sweden to develop
aluminum, steel and plastic, and a
reconditioning solutions for damaged
70% recycling rate for lithium-ion
lithium-ion batteries.
batteries.

Voi’s Paris service CO2 emissions have been cut by 71% since launch
The impact of Voi’s improvement initiatives in Paris

Launch
in Paris

140 Improved lifespan Higher scooter 100% Swappable Fully swappable

121 thanks to repairs utilization electric van battery fleet of Voiager
120 and incentivized parking operations scooter pilot 3 scooters with
24-month lifespan
100
88
95
g CO²-eq. per km

80
68
70 69
60
46
53
40 Recycling Route 100%
partnership optimization renewable E-cargo bikes
for material software energy for 35
20 for battery
recovery charging swapping
0
Jan 2019 Jan 2020 Mar 2020

Note: Paris electricity mix is low-carbon, so the move to 100% renewable has little impact for Voi in Paris.
Source: Voi LCA data, EY analysis, based on Voi internal improvement assumptions.

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 23

Key improvement areas for reduced environmental impact

Reducing energy consumption and emissions of operations

The North Carolina University study estimates operations to drive 43% of emissions. Our analysis shows its operations
account for only 3.5% of Voi’s emission in Paris. This has been achieved with a number of initiatives:

1. Electrification: Voi uses an all-electric vehicle fleet for daily operations.

2. Renewable energy: Voi uses 100% renewable energy to charge all of its scooters and service fleet.

3. Swappable batteries: Swappable batteries cut operational emissions drastically by reducing the daily
transport charge by 90% as only batteries are transported to be charged and deployed. This allows
for cargo and trailer bikes to perform 75% of their in-field tasks. Swappable batteries also enable
more rides to be provided with the same fleet size, as scooters have much shorter downtime.

4. Route optimization: This software has reduced daily distance covered by bikes and e-vans by 30% by
identifying shortest routes.

Improving lifespan
The lifespan of an e-scooter is the chief component of both environmental and financial performance. While lifespans
have improved, scooters should be a top focus for operators. Voi’s latest swappable e-scooter model is expected to
have an operational lifespan of 24 months. Key levers for extended lifespan are:

1. Durable e-scooter design: Second and third generation scooter design leverage data from millions
of rides to build longer lasting scooters, created for intense use in outdoor conditions. Voi has seen
over 70% reduction in vandalism and theft since early stages.

2. Focus on maintenance: Predictive maintenance software and strong local teams dedicated to repairs
are key to achieving a longer lifespan for scooters. Modular architecture enables easy repairs.

3. User behavior: Incentivizing and guiding user behavior to park, use and care for the fleet promotes
responsible use and reduces vandalism.

24 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

How Paris fosters sustainable practices
Paris has set high-ambition targets will formalize the partnership with It was Voi’s first city to have 100%
in its Air Energy Plan (Plan Climat operators. The process will select electric operations powered by
Air Énergie territorial), which aims three operators. Highlighting the green energy. It was one of the first
for zero combustion engine vehicles city’s environmental ambitions, Paris European cities to dedicate space
(diesel and gas) by 2030 and for has attributed 40% of the grade to to micromobility parking with over
carbon neutrality by 2050. sustainability, followed by 30% to 2,500 micromobility parking hubs
safety and 30% to operations. (“zone partagée de remisage”).
Since the launch of e-scooter
sharing in late 2018, Paris engaged The focus on sustainability in
in a dialogue with operators. The Paris has made it an innovation hub
city is now running a tender which for sustainable e-scooter sharing.

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 25

2. Comparison transport modes. We provide ranges mobility options. The OECD’s
for each where possible. International Transport Federation,
across modes an intergovernmental organization
Based on available data, Voi’s per and think tank for transport policy
With sustainable hardware and person CO2 impact in Paris is above covering all transport modes, has
operational setups, e-scooter the metro (12–23 g), roughly on par set out to do this. The pending study
sharing is a low-carbon, sustainable with that of an electric bus (16–48 g), will compare the environmental
mobility option. The “per-person km” and less than a train and a diesel bus. performance of urban transport
functional unit enables a comparison E-scooters are well below cars. modes by analyzing life-cycle
across transport modes. It should
performance and will provide
be noted that comparing life-cycle More studies needed valuable data and insights into which
assessments can be delicate given
Improved life-cycle assessment modes should be promoted to cut
varying assumptions and limited
data is needed for all urban transport emissions.
studies on life-cycle impact of

Comparisons to other modes

Range of CO2 grams equivalent per person per kilometer

200–350

85–300

45–93
35–67
50–60
16–48
12–23

Voi − Paris vs. Metro Bus − electric Train − high-speed Bus − diesel Car − electric Car − petrol
Hamburg vs. regional

Multiple factors influence the emissions range for each mode, including energy mix, vehicle models and average occupancy rate.

Voi’s Hamburg service features a Voiager 2 scooter with an estimated lifespan of 18 to 24 months, no swappable batteries, diesel van operations and renewable
energy for charging.

Source: Voi LCA data; EY analysis; The North Carolina University LCA study, Aug. 2019; Arcadis, Extrait de l’étude portant sur l’impact environnemental des
trottinettes électriques, Nov. 2019; DTU International Energy Report 2019, Transforming Urban Mobility, Oct. 2019; Lufthansa Innovation Hub, Nov. 2019.

26 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

 3. Right moves on Voi for Business
Emissions in context
modal shift Voi for Business enables companies
to seamlessly provide employees with
What does 35g or 126g
The other driver of a low-carbon e-scooter rides, aiming to convert
of CO2 represent? GHG
urban transport is a sustainable business taxi and car trips into
emissions are at the heart mobility mix, which requires a micromobility trips. AdeoCare, an
of today’s agenda and shift away from car use. “Beyond elderly care provider in Stockholm
reports, but many of us avoiding and reducing our emissions leases a fleet of 30 service cars used
lack the frame of reference at each stage of our value chain by employees to visit patients around
to understand them. and achieving carbon neutrality, we the city. By joining the platform, it
Comparing to food, life- are actively engaged in designing aims to encourage employees to opt
cycle analysis data shows and integrating our service in a for e-scooters instead of a car, hoping
that one cheeseburger way that increases car replacement to save time, money and reduce the
emits around 4500g CO2 rates,” says Fredrik Hjelm, CEO of company’s carbon footprint.
eq. A chocolate bar 1900g Voi. A carbon neutral service which
and a latte 340g CO2 eq.14 only replaces walking and public
transport will fail to help cities reduce
Plant-based foods are much
emissions.
less carbon intensive; an
apple emits 0.34g CO2 eq. Voi aims to design its service to
According to Nature Climate attract more taxi and car users.
Change journal, a cotton Their initiatives include commuter
and polyester t-shirt emit packages and discounts, MaaS
2100g and 5500g CO2 eq., integrations and a Voi for Business
respectively.15 platform.

In Paris, the CO2 impact of Voi’s

service is similar to that of
public transport

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 27

4
How can cities unleash the
potential of micromobility?
When managed sustainably and integrated effectively within existing transport ecosystems,
e-scooters can help cities decarbonize transport and improve quality of life. With e-scooters
here to stay, the question is no longer whether cities should welcome e-scooters but
how. “Ultimately, cities want to understand the implications of micromobility, handle the
externalities and learn how to benefit from it,” comments Diego Canales from Populus.
Based on our talks with cities and research insights, we come with seven recommendations
for policy makers and city officials to unlock the potential of shared scooters and driving
sustainability best practice.

1. Implement national
policies that foster
a transition toward
sustainable mobility
Sustainable urban mobility requires
governments, cities, public transport
operators and private actors to
work together toward shared goals.
National policies are crucial to enable
cities to regulate but also allow cities
to move smartly toward sustainable
mobility. Governments should
set national traffic and product
requirements on the one side
and push cities to allocate more

28 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

space to micromobility — both unlock the convenience and first- and shared e-scooters can be used by up
in terms of parking spots and last-mile benefits of the service. to 8–10 people daily and a single car
micromobility lanes. In addition, parking spot can house up to 10–15
national legislation needs to provide 3. Foster public scooters, while cars transport on
the right framework for cities to average 1.3 people and are parked
choose operators based on criteria transport — 95% of the time. Cities should establish
related to safety, operations, data micromobility that lighter modes of transport have
sharing and sustainability. access to parking space.
collaboration
2. Limit and select Experts envision dense shared
The city of Paris has allocated 2,500
micromobility parking spots for a
players based on mobility offerings composed of
planned 15,000 e-scooter fleet
solutions such as e-scooters and
sustainability, safety automated shuttles enabling access
(which will be spread across three
operators). By converting the empty
and operational to public transport and strengthening
space between pedestrian crossings
alternative mobility networks. Cities
excellence should not shy away from relying
and parking spots, Paris found
a low-cost way to enable orderly
on privately owned companies
Cities are increasingly running public parking. Other cities should follow
that shoulder the financial burden
tenders to select operators and suit and put in place a critical mass
and pursue partnerships in order
enforce requirements. Marseille is of spots to meet the demand for
to address challenges. With the
considered to have run a successful parking and incentivize users to park
2030 Agenda calling for increased
tender, by capping the number of in an orderly fashion. Parking zones,
Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17),
players based on population size however, should be incentivized
collaboration between e-scooter
and selecting operators according to rather than mandatory, which could
and public transport operators is a
multiple criteria. A capped market thwart some of the benefits of free-
promising example of public-private
fosters more certainty for operators floating services (services without
partnerships that has the potential
enabling investment in sustainable fixed stations) such as a reduction in
to support a transition toward
service. mobility options for city residents.
sustainable urban mobility.
Clear requirements for operational
and hardware sustainability 4. Create access to
should be set. Cities should select
micromobility parking
operators who have a track record in
responsible employment, sustainable Policies geared toward levelling the
practices such as extending scooter playing field between cars and new
lifespan and green operations with modes are needed. With competition
e-vans, cargo bikes and renewable for public space, local governments
energy. can look at curb productivity, an
indicator enabling data driven urban
Employ dynamic fleet capping based
space management, based on how
on utilization data so that demand
productive (# of passengers) a mode
is met. User data shows that critical
is per time and space. For example,
density of scooters is required to

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 29

5. Support safety safety. Cities should favor operators Cities can use tools provided by third
who invest in user awareness and parties. For example, Voi’s City Data
efforts and invest in safety events to foster responsible Dashboard is a platform built to help
alternative mobility behavior. Cities can support and city stakeholders and regulators
legitimize safety campaigns and help understand and manage the use of
infrastructure enforce sanctions for bad behavior scooters in their city — the number
such as drunk driving. of trips, trip distance and duration,
Safe mobility is a shared responsibility
times of trips, most used routes,
between governments, cities and
service providers. A report published 6. Harness the power etc. These tools can enable evidence
driven policies and investment
in February 2020 by ITF concludes of data and regulate in improved, safer and greener
that e-scooter riders do not face a
significantly higher risk of road traffic dynamically transport options.

death or injury than cyclists. In fact,

Harnessing data insights is a priority Dynamic regulation based on user
the real danger on the road remains
for city officials and mobility plans. patterns and utilization data provides
cars, with heavy motor vehicles at
“Collaboration with providers, access flexibility and can maximize benefits.
higher speed involved in 80% of fatal
to data and learning by doing are For instance, fleet caps should be
crashes with cyclists and e-scooter
the most important factors for us — adapted to demand data. Voi fleet
riders. The report’s recommendations
we need to know what happens on data shows that critical density of
for policymakers and city planners
the street,” comments Eindhoven scooters is required to unlock the
include creating protected and
mobility experts. Free-floating, convenience and first- and last-mile
connected infrastructure for
connected mobility services provide benefits of the service.
micromobility. This dramatically
invaluable insights into how people
increases adoption and safety of the
move around cities, helping to
mode, by separating cars from other
identify mobility gaps and understand
modes. Furthermore, traffic calming
habits.
measures (e.g., speed reduction) has
a positive effect on micromobility

Ride like Voila — a digital traffic school

Ride Like Voila is the first certified e-scooter traffic school. It

includes gamified e-learning modules about traffic rules and
safe riding. 250,000 people have visited the school, receiving
free credits for passed modules. The content was created in
collaboration with the NTF, the National Society for Road Safety
in Sweden and certified by VIAS, the Belgian Institute for Road
Safety.

30 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

 Dynamic regulation responds to
data based on key performance
measures

7. Foster modal shift Alternative mobility has traditionally options while incentivizing behavior
included walking, cycling and public through taxes, MaaS integrations and
Reducing car trips can only be transport but not micromobility. service design are key. Attracting
achieved by combining smart Widening the definition of alternative youth early on to alternative mobility
policies that promote sustainable mobility to include sustainable rather than car adoption is also
behavior with convenient transport micromobility options can help crucial and removes the need to
alternatives. Today, most cities have cities effectively reduce transport convert them later on.
implemented Sustainable Mobility emissions without thwarting
Plans, which set reducing combustion accessibility. Policies focusing on
engine-based trips and increasing behavior are key. Changing habits
alternative mobility share as central is a key challenge for most policies,
targets. providing convenient, affordable

Snapshot of Voi’s City Data Dashboard

Source: Voi Technology company data.

Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future 31

5The path to a
sustainable future
Today’s cities are facing a challenge: reducing pollution and congestion while improving
urban access and quality of life. To usher European cities into post-car centers, noise and
pollution free zones will not only take smart policies and infrastructure, but a fundamental
shift in mobility habits and behavior. This is where the sustainability potential of e-scooters
lies: first tried out for fun but adopted for convenience, they exhibit tremendous uptake
pointing to their potential to change the way we move in cities. By making alternative and
public transit systems more accessible and convenient, e-scooters can serve as a catalyst
toward shared and low-carbon mobility. “Shared mobility is part of the bigger plan of
creating a livable, sustainable and accessible city with places that are pleasant to stay in.
MaaS and micromobility are key in our plans,” say Eindhoven MaaS experts Astrid Zwegers
and Jan Willem van der Pas.

To take advantage of e-scooters, cities and policy makers should embrace the trend and
create environments conducive to private sector investment and sustainable practices
that benefit the city, its citizens and the planet. Together, investment toward micromobility
infrastructure, effective policies, innovation and responsible business practices can help
cities reach their climate goals, reclaim space for citizens and improve their quality of
life. While some challenges remain for the e-scooter sector, such as solving parking and
improving safety, the unexpected rise of the e-scooter in Europe shows that the future of
mobility that is people-centric and provides low-carbon transport may come faster than we
thought. Data-driven smart policies are needed to support the shift rather than delay it.

32 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

Micromobility: Moving cities into a sustainable future 33
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34 Micromobility: moving cities into a sustainable future

Contacts
Thomas Holm Møller
Partner, Digital Leader
EY-Parthenon (EY BOX)
+45 73 23 30 00
[email protected]

John Simlett
EY Global Future of Mobility Leader
+44 20 7951 9489
[email protected]

This document was created in

collaboration with Ankit Khatri,
Vishal Vohra and Gaurav Batra of
EY Mobility Knowledge Team.
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