Hi everyone and welcome to a newsletter that gives a great taste of what we are up to. As you can read below, the English Devolution Bill is now at Committee stage and we are working on it in depth. We are able to do that thanks to the very welcome arrival of Anna Lewis in a new post of Advocacy and Engagement Manager. You can read more about her below; do get in touch with her if you would like to.
As you can also read below, our policy and public affairs work continues and expands via contributions to the debate in both London and Northern Ireland recently, with more to come as we gear up for future milestones such as the publication of the Government’s Integrated National Transport Strategy and the May 2026 local and national elections.
Finally, it’s encouraging to see areas expressing interest in new shared e-scooter trials, something we have been supporting for many years.
Keep in touch,
Richard Dilks
Chief Executive, CoMoUK
News & insights 🗞️
English Devolution Bill and bike share licensing
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill is in Committee stage, which means that the Bill is being scrutinised by a small group of MPs and there’s opportunity for discussion and amendment.
We’ve been looking closely at the sections of the Bill that bring in licensing schemes for micromobility providers, considering what they mean for our members, and connecting with politicians to help shape the Bill’s development.
Overall, the licensing scheme outlined by the Bill looks like a step forward for micromobility, offering the possibility of standardisation and regulation at the national level, although the specifics won’t be clear until the Government develops the further regulations and guidance that the Bill outlines. For now, we’re focusing on pushing for stronger requirements on public bodies to collaborate on parking for micromobility vehicles, and clearer regulations on any charging schemes to avoid prohibitively expensive fees on operators.
If you want to hear more about the Bill or input into our work on it, get in touch with our new Advocacy and Engagement Manager Anna - anna@como.org.uk.
Congestion Charge change
We are deeply concerned by Transport for London's (TfL) decision to remove the 100% Congestion Charge discount for fully electric car club vehicles.
This change, which imposes a new daily charge on vehicles already proven to reduce private car ownership and emissions, is a punitive measure that directly contradicts London’s goals for cleaner air and sustainable mobility.
Car clubs are not private cars. They are a shared resource and a critical component of the integrated, sustainable urban transport network. Our latest research showed that last year one car club car in London replaced 31 private cars (a figure 50% higher than the average outside the capital), significantly freeing up kerbside space and reducing unnecessary vehicle journeys.
The impact of this policy risks:
📈 Increasing operating costs, which will be passed on to users
📉 Reducing the viability of expanding car club schemes, particularly in outer London
🛑 Undermining the incentive to not own a private vehicle in the capital
CoMoUK calls upon the Mayor and TfL to urgently reconsider this decision. Policies must support, not penalise, shared transport if London is serious about reaching its Net Zero targets. We must incentivise modal shift, not create new barriers for sustainable choices.
We took the opportunity to respond to Northern Ireland’s recent transport strategy consultation by saying that we saw a real opportunity for it to pursue shared e-scooter trials, push bike share further (inspired by the success of the Belfast scheme), make a proper start on car sharing services and aim for a network of mobility hubs.
Although Northern Ireland has catching up to do, that also means it has a great opportunity before it to make shared transport a key part of its future strategy. Doing so would also boost public transport and active travel use in Ulster.
We think this is a great fit with the strategy’s goal of delivering a “cleaner, smarter, and more inclusive” transport network by 2035, with an emphasis on sustainability, innovation, and accessibility.
New Advocacy and Engagement Manager
This month we welcomed Anna Lewis to the CoMoUK team in a new role as our Advocacy and Engagement Manager.
She will be working on the English Devolution Bill and important changes ahead for bike share licensing.
Anna has worked across climate and health for Wellcome, Cancer Research UK and most recently the Quakers. Her work in these roles has spanned policy, advocacy and campaigns, but has been connected by a keen interest in shifting society towards a fairer and greener world. She lives in Sheffield and enjoys weekend hikes in the Peak District.
Please reach out if you would like to talk to her about the new legislation.
Welcome to the team Anna!
New areas consider shared e-scooter trials
Earlier this year the government requested Expressions of Interest from local authorities who wish to join the shared e-scooter trials across England.
In Brighton, councillors have recently decided to apply to the DfT to add 300 e-scooters with docking infrastructure at 30 hire sites as part of the existing Beryl BTN Bike hire scheme.
In Leeds, another city also with a current Beryl run bike share scheme, a similar decision has been made for a trial. The council said “increased use of electric scooters could cut car journeys, reduce carbon emissions and help people get to work faster”.
CoMoUK was proud to be represented at the 2025 version of the Shared Mobility Rocks conference in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, by our Head of Consultancy and Research, Patrick Utz, and the Chair of our Board, Matthew Clark.
Shared Mobility Rocks brings together practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders who are passionate about shared transport from across the world. Our CoMoUK delegation learned about ambitious funding programmes for bike share, about how cultural patterns influence the success of car sharing models and shared micromobility services in different countries, and about common challenges for shared transport that can be overcome when cities and regions take bold steps to support behaviour change and transport decarbonisation.
CoMoUK delegates were also encouraged by the positive feedback on our own work including on our annual car club research and shared micromobility research that is widely quoted internationally as an authoritative data source on shared transport.
We look forward to keeping on rocking in Vienna next year. Servus Wien!
You can get a flavour of Shared Mobilty Rocks 2025 from the aftermovie below...
New members 👥
Mosa
Mosa bring docked cycle sharing to places traditional schemes miss — small towns, campuses, and community spaces. They can also transform any existing bike rack into a smart and secure parking space using their smart docking system.
Shared transport user quote of the month:
"I really enjoyed using the scooters to get around Bristol, for example going into town from where I live or going home from the gym... I also liked how I wouldn’t have to worry about parking my car."
Female user from Bristol, 21-24, Annual Shared Micromobility Report 2024
