Voi’s latest survey reveals users are significantly reducing car usage across Europe

Credit: Voi Technology

In celebration of International Day of Micromobility (25 August 2022), Voi Technology has released its latest annual user survey, revealing that more people are leaving their cars at home and combining shared micro-mobility with public transport in cities across Europe.

The survey, which polls 10,000 riders across the continent, shows that 36 per cent of e-scooter riders have said that they have drastically or fully replaced their car use because of the availability of micro-mobility, including e-scooters.

Every year, Voi conducts an international user survey to understand rider behaviour, including what kind of transport modes are replaced by an e-scooter and reasons for riding. This year’s survey includes a new question to better understand how the existence of e-scooters and other micro-mobility services have impacted users’ car use over time.

These results indicate that micro-mobility services may have a bigger impact on car use than previously thought, as more people find shared mobility services combined with public transport to be a viable alternative to the car. Voi calls for more research on how the existence of micro-mobility services impacts users’ cars use over time. 

In 2021, over 40 per cent of riders said that one of their primary purposes for riding an e-scooter was for fun, with no particular destination. However, this has since fallen to 30 per cent with more people saying that they use e-scooters for travelling to socialising events (59 per cent) and commuting to work or education (48 per cent). This indicates that as people become more familiar with micro-mobility, they incorporate it into their regular routes and use it in combination with public transport.

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Around 25 per cent of riders have said that they are solely using e-scooters for their journeys, whilst more than 55 per cent of riders have said that they typically combine e-scooter rides with public transport, up from 47 per cent in 2021. In this way, micro-mobility is helping to solve the first- and last-mile challenge of public transport in cities across Europe.

Furthermore, the survey shows that e-scooters are being adopted across Europe by riders of all ages. Close to half of the respondents aged 45 plus have said that they have reduced their car use significantly since adopting shared micro-mobility.

In addition, there are signs that e-scooter use is particularly lowering car usage in the suburbs. Over 60 per cent of riders that live within a 30-minute public transport ride of the city centre have reduced their car usage because of micro-mobility services. As such, on average, 14 per cent of Voi rides replace a car trip with an e-scooter ride. 

Fredrik Hjelm, Co-founder and CEO of Voi, said: “Since Voi was founded, we’ve been on a mission to help transform how people move around their cities to reduce car dependency and reclaim public spaces for living. We’re starting to see a significant impact with more people using e-scooters alongside public transport and people of all ages find a flexible alternative to car trips, or even ditching the car completely. Micro-mobility services such as Voi are contributing to a reduction in air pollution and harmful emissions, making our cities happier places to live.”