A packed issue, starting with our Shared Transport Conference – the first face-to-face annual conference we have put on since 2019, having gone online during Covid. We are really pleased with the huge range of topics and perspectives covered in the day by speakers and our audience. You can read more about it and get at the slides below. We reflected on how much has changed since 2019 – when the UK had no mobility hubs, no shared e-scooter trials, a much smaller bike share fleet with a small number of e-bikes in it – and on how much more progress we need and want to see. I loved seeing so many of you there and all the debate through the door.
We have also been busy collating case studies on shared transport and the NHS; responding to consultations from UK Government and Transport for Greater Manchester; and we are thrilled to have worked on an amendment to the English Devolution Bill that secured an important set of statements from transport minister Lord Hendy – do read more on that below. To round off the good news, it is great to see mobility hubs feature in Westminster borough Labour’s manifesto, situated in the context of school street zones and greening. Check out more of what we have been doing around the upcoming elections in the first item below.
Keep in touch,
Richard Dilks
Chief Executive, CoMoUK
News & insights 🗞️
Election corner
With the various 7 May elections coming up we have been putting our asks to candidates and we were pleased to get a wide sweep of coverage for this across the Scotsman, Metro, Edinburgh Evening News, The Courier, STV News and AirQualityNews among many others.
That second wave is something CoMoUK has pushed for consistently since the first wave of trials launched almost six years ago..
Talking of shared e-scooters, TfL and London Councils have published encouraging performance data from London’s shared e-scooter trials, showing a 50% increase in use year on year from 2024 to 2025, a 50% increase in utilisation, 95% parking compliance and 0.0007% of trips resulting in serious injury (and zero fatalities).
We were glad to see 3,000 people signed up to operators’ access schemes too.
We are also pleased to see TfL reiterating that the trial supports the Mayor’s Transport Strategy goal of 80% of journeys being by sustainable modes by 2041. TfL is also procuring for the next phase of the trial and has recently put out a tender for a shared micromobility platform for the city.
Shared cars corner
We are delighted to see car club return to Exeter with the launch of Co Wheels there, some three years after the exit of Co Cars from Devon’s capital.
We at CoMoUK continue to work hard on car sharing in London, in the gap left by Zipcar having gone from the UK capital. We are seeing continued operator appetite – which is clearly essential – as well as some very welcome and significant shifts from many boroughs on key areas that we are prioritising: fee reductions; moving away from cumbersome procurement processes; saving car club bays; and, in the longer term, collaborating on EV charging infrastructure for car clubs. We are publishing updates on our website here.
After the London local elections on 7 May we will be reaching out to boroughs across London to try to make further progress. TfL have published an advice note on car clubs which we have fed back to TfL.
We are continuing to have dialogue with the DfT about car and lift sharing. The Department plans to hold a series of car and lift sharing operator meetings shortly, which CoMoUK will also be involved with.
Conference highlights
On Wednesday 25 March, we were delighted to be back in the swing of an annual face-to-face conference by hosting 120 public and private sector stakeholders from the world of shared transport.
The sessions covered a spectrum of topics from mobility hub development to how AVs might relate to shared transport. Speaker also updated us on the shared e-scooter trials, and explored how the bike share licencing changes will impact shared micromobility schemes. Throughout the day, we also considered how to improve access for disabled people.
At the end of the day, Camden Council led delegates around a tour of the Somers Town mobility hubs before heading for a social drinks gathering. Thank you to our sponsors, Voi, Tripy and Wego.
We’ve been asking the Government to make a clear public statement in support of the growth of shared micromobility for a long time. We have also been pushing for clearer commitments on parking and on integration with rail, so we were happy to hear:
Confirmation that the Government will set out detailed guidance on good co-operation on parking, with the intention of guiding authorities’ discussions towards productive parking outcomes.
Assurance that integrated transport, including the connection between rail and shared, will be part of Great British Railway’s (GBR) remit and of the Long-Term Rail Strategy, and that GBR will be expected to engage with local leaders on their visions for integrated regional transport networks.
We will continue to engage as the regulations and guidance around shared micromobility licensing are developed to ensure that they support the intention to grow shared schemes across the country and maximise the public benefits of shared micromobility.
Westminster Council embraces mobility hubs
With elections rapidly approaching, we are keeping a keen eye on published manifestoes for shared transport pledges. Today, we welcome the manifesto commitment to mobility hubs in the Labour manifesto for Westminster Council.
Hubs feature as part of a commitment to deliver area-based transport plans that “consider neighbourhoods holistically”. This would build on the Westminster Sustainable Transport Strategy, which contains policies across shared transport modes, without committing to bringing them together through a network of mobility hubs.
NHS case studies
Around 3.5% of all road travel in England is NHS-related, so there are huge opportunities for shared transport in the NHS, particularly as NHS Trusts create their sustainable transport plans.
We have been reaching out to local authorities, operators and NHS Trusts to compile a collection of case studies that illustrate where those opportunities are being realised. The resulting document showcases initiatives such as discounts for NHS staff, pool cars for work travel and shared micromobility bays on NHS land, all supporting greener, healthier, and more convenient travel.
We raised the potential negative impacts of these measures on car clubs in terms of outright costs as well as practical difficulties in making something designed around private cars work for a shared fleet.
We recommended that car clubs are exempted from eVED. We concluded that the proposed changes would add to the cost of running a car club EV, already higher than a non-EV, and would contribute a negligible amount to HM Treasury - around 0.001% of current fuel duty revenue.
TfGM’s consultation on its 2050 Transport Strategy and Delivery Plan
Integration featured within DP23 “Transport Hubs”, with a focus on making it easier for people to make seamless multi-modal journeys.
Car clubs being supported by DP13, which recognises the sustainable and cost-effective nature of shared car use.
The benefit of shared micromobility in reducing private car ownership being recognised in DP14.
The strategy also set out the “Right Mix” vision and associated mode shift targets. Here, we highlighted the absence of shared transport modes within the targets and provided evidence from our annual reports that shared transport supports car-light or car-free lifestyles, active travel rates and use of public transport systems in Greater Manchester.
Events 🗓️
Shared Mobility Rocks 2026 - Vienna
5 May 2026
There is no event quite like SMR, taking place this year in Vienna on 5 May, where the theme this year is 'Time to Scale Up'.
A number of staff from CoMoUK have attended previous Shared Mobility Rocks and always enjoyed them and brought back useful insights.
Music festivals and transport conferences might not seem natural companions, but going to Shared Mobility Rocks might just change your view on that.
"I mostly use shared bikes to run errands in the city centre, rather than taking my own bike and risk it being stolen. They are also great for ‘one way’ journeys, such as to the train station when I don’t require my bike at the other end."
Female user from Norwich, 35-44, Annual Shared Micromobility Report 2024
