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Active Travel: Hire Services

Question for Department for Transport

UIN 14884, tabled on 18 November 2024

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data she holds on the (a) age, (b) gender, (c) disability status and (d) other demographic make-up of users of micromobility services.

Answered on

25 November 2024

The term micromobility can be defined in different ways. For the purposes of this question, we have taken it to refer to rental e-scooters and cycles.

DfT's Transport and Transport Technology Tracker survey is designed to be representative of the wider population of adults aged 16 and over across England. The most recent published data from Wave 11 (data collection - Dec 2023) of the tracker surveyed 3,622 adults.

Rental e-scooters

The survey found that of 244 respondents who said they had used a rental e-scooter at least annually:

  • Age: young people are much more likely to use rental e-scooters at least annually (20% of 16-24s vs 1% of those aged 55 or older)

  • Gender: men are more likely than women to use rental e-scooters at least annually (8% vs. 5%)

  • Disability status: 5% of people with a health condition that reduces their activity use rental e-scooters at least annually (vs. 7% of those that do not have a health condition that reduces their activity)

  • Other demographic make up: ethnic minorities are more than three times as likely to use rental e-scooters at least annually (16% vs 5% of white people)

  • Urban vs rural: urban residents (8%) were more likely than rural residents (3%) to have used a rental e-scooter at least annually.

E-cycles

10% of respondents (355 people) said they have used an e-cycle at least annually. Of these:

  • Age: young people are more likely to use e-cycles at least annually than older people (13% of 16-24s vs 8% of 55-74 year olds).

  • Gender: men are more likely to use e-cycles at least annually than women (12% vs 7%).

  • Other demographic make-up: ethnic minorities are more likely to use e-cycles at least annually compared to white people (16% vs 9%).

Standard Cycles:

36% of respondents (1298 people) said they have used a standard cycle at least annually. Of these:

  • Age: younger age groups are more likely to use a standard cycle at least annually compared to other age groups (47% of 16-24s vs 36% of 55-64 year olds)

  • Gender: men are more likely to use a standard cycle at least annually compared to women (44% vs 27%)

  • Disability status: people without a health condition that reduces their activity are more likely to use a standard cycle at least annually compared to those without (38% vs 29%)

  • Other demographic make-up: ethnic minorities are more likely to use a standard cycle at least annually compared to white people (41% vs 35%).