With Zipcar’s exit now confirmed, our focus remains on closing the car club provision gap in London as best we can help with in the short term while also focussing on the longer-term policy failures/opportunities that have got us to this point. We are hopeful that a forthcoming roundtable with Deputy Mayors Seb Dance and Mete Coban MBE will be a start on the London issues and that a forthcoming DfT meeting with operators will be a start at a national level. The contrast with France (see below) is painfully stark.
In the meantime, we are grateful to Zipcar for their help in messaging to their customers and to other operators for pulling together offer codes in an effort to minimise people being lost to car sharing in London. You can also read moving stories from people affected by the loss of around 90% of the car club service of Europe’s largest city that we continue to collect.
On that page you can also see our tracker of what individual London boroughs are up to there. Words from former Zipcar customers like “disaster”, “devastating loss” and “a real blow” leap off the screen and fire our determination to work with all parties to limit the damage and have London work better on this vital mode in the future. The number of people pointing to the need for them now to at least consider buying a car of their own is striking.
On a brighter note, we are delighted to open up registration for our Conference. We’re holding it face-to-face (the first time we have done this since 2019) in London on 25 March and I very much hope to chat with you there.
Keep in touch,
Richard Dilks
Chief Executive, CoMoUK
News & insights 🗞️
Media coverage of CoMoUK’s comments on Zipcar’s exit
He said that the news was "a major loss, not just for the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on its vehicles as a cheap, convenient and occasional way of travelling, but for London as a whole", adding that "this episode highlights that a more coherent approach to car sharing across the capital is badly needed, and we will continue to work intensively with boroughs, TfL and operators on this."
France sets ambitious national car sharing target
In December France announced a goal of 70,000 shared cars, a fivefold increase from its current level of around 14,000. This is to be achieved by 2031.
We will be interested to monitor progress on this; we very much welcome its ambition. Four key strategies underlie this effort: single point registration; better visibility for car sharing options in route planners; support for local authorities around bays; car sharing being introduced into fleets used by employees.
For context, the UK has 5,300 shared cars and vans but that number will now rapidly shrink with the exit of Zipcar and its circa 2,500 vehicles. Germany has 45,000.
Car sharing is growing in France, with membership up 11.5% last year alone and over a million members.
We will be raising awareness of these comparisons with DfT in particular, including at a forthcoming DfT-car sharing operator meeting we are liaising with them about.
Two Bills relevant to shared transport are being debated in Westminster this month. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which brings in shared micromobility licensing, is now at Committee stage in the Lords. The Railways Bill, which will create Great British Railways to oversee both passenger rail services and railway infrastructure, is at committee stage in the Commons.
We’re continuing our work on both Bills, aiming to ensure that the proposed shared micromobility licensing offers sensible solutions on parking, fees and application processes, and that Great British Railways’ new power over station infrastructure is used to integrate across shared, public and active travel modes.
Bolt to operate e-scooter and e-bikes in Liverpool
As of Sunday 1 February, Liverpool will be welcoming a new operator, Bolt, to run its shared e-bike and e-scooter schemes.
The scheme will be expanded to new areas around the city, such as Speke and Garston, for the first time. The service will also operate 24/7 which will assist shift workers and those in the night-time economy who need to travel when there is no public transport.
Following the introduction of its e-bikes in London in August 2025, Bolt’s launch in Liverpool is its first solo operated city.
Mobilityways’ Commuter Census
Associate member Mobilityways has analysed the responses of thousands of commuters in the UK to reveal current attitudes towards sustainable commuting. The following year-on-year analysis is based on responses from 5,166 members of the Mobilityways Liftshare car sharing communities.
This year, the Commuter Census results are stark: while the number of people carpooling and driving alone in EVs has risen, the amount of respondents using all other sustainable transport modes has fallen and driving alone has increased for the first time since 2022. At 40%, driving alone in a petrol or diesel car remains the single-most popular form of commuting, and its popularity has risen since last year. In the meantime, however, carpooling continues to rise beyond last year – and beyond pre-pandemic levels – for the first time, with 16% of participants saying they now carpool to work.
Other sustainable methods of transport have sadly decreased slightly in popularity, as the numbers of bus and train users and walkers have fallen.
Lime win shared bike and e-scooters contract in the West Midlands
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has selected Lime to operate the region’s micromobility hire scheme from April.
The partnership will bring a fleet of over 2,000 e-bikes and e-scooters to the network, which covers key areas including Birmingham, Coventry, and Wolverhampton. The new agreement includes a commitment to freeze overall price levels for the first two years, supporting affordable access to shared transport.
Bringing local authority officers together to discuss the latest developments in shared transport and mobility hubs is an important role for CoMoUK.
We run a number of 'forums' which are spaces for public sector representatives to come together and provides a value opportunity to share best practice and address collective issues. If you haven’t already joined up, please get in touch and let us know which of the following meetings you would like to come along to:
Shared transport forum (bi-monthly)
Shared e-scooter forum (bi-monthly)
Mobility hub forum (quarterly)
Community car and bike share forum (quarterly)
You don’t need an active scheme to join.
"I’ve found this forum incredibly useful – it’s been so useful to be able to talk to other people in the same situations across the country, particularly in the early days, and I hope that my experience has also been useful for those in the earlier stages of their mobility hubs journey” - Amanda Edmondson, WECA
We also run webinars focusing on specific themes which are open to members as well, more details of an upcoming one below.
Events 🗓️
The Shared Transport Conference
25 March 2026 - London
We are delighted to announce that registration is now open for The Shared Transport Conference 2026, this year to be held in London.
This year’s event marks a special milestone as our first in-person conference since 2019. We are excited to bring the community back together to shine a light on shared transport and its critical role in sustainable travel and spatial planning.
This is a unique opportunity to connect with industry leaders, local authorities, and planners. The day will feature expert discussions on the most pressing topics in the sector, including:
Micromobility: Bike share licensing and shared e-scooter trials
Decarbonisation: EVs and the development of car clubs
Future Tech: Autonomous vehicles (AVs) and their relationship to sustainable transport
Planning & Access: Mobility hubs, spatial planning, and improving accessibility for disabled people.
The full schedule and a list of confirmed speakers can be found on the event webpage where you can also book your place:
For the first of our bi-monthly webinar series in 2026, we are focusing on engagement activities that can boost awareness of shared micromobility schemes. We will be joined by speakers from the Motability Foundation and Cycling UK, who will share key findings from a Motability Foundation funded project exploring how to increase awareness and build skills in the use of shared micromobility among disabled people.
Beryl, Dott, Forest, Lime and Voi will also highlight what more can be done to actively grow a diverse and engaged user base within a scheme.
CoMoUK webinars are usually only open to authorities and members but we are opening this more widely so please email info@como.org.uk if you would like to join.
"It’s been amazing. I hadn’t used a bike for over 20 years. The availability of shared bikes gave me the opportunity to go places without having to use my car, get exercise and this led to a positive impact on my health and fitness."
Male user from Worcester, 35-44, Annual Shared Micromobility Report 2024
