Lime e-scooters needed to help slash emissions, says Uber UK’s boss

A more ‘common sense’ approach to Melbourne’s ban on rental e-scooters would have been following London in introducing designated parking zones, says Uber’s UK boss.

Uber says people need access to multiple transport modes to help meet net zero targets, including ride-sharing, reliable public transport, and electric bikes and scooters.

Creating dedicated parking areas – about every 100 metres – for electric bikes and scooters is a “more common sense” approach to curtailing anti-social behaviour on the vehicles rather than a Melbourne-style ban, Uber’s UK boss says.

Melbourne has prohibited rental electric scooters after Mayor Nicholas Reece said they were sprinkled “like confetti” across the city’s footpaths, creating a hazard for pedestrians, particularly for the visually impaired, and the move had popular support.

But Andrew Brem, Uber’s UK general manager, says the e-bikes and e-scooters have helped make London one of the world’s greenest cities.

Uber says it has removed 55,000 tonnes of carbon emissions in London since March 2021 when it launched its all-electric Green offering. It has been offering £5000 ($9685) grants to switch from petrol and diesel to electric vehicles, as well as working with local councils to install 700 public charging points.

It funded the grants and money for charging infrastructure by introducing a “small premium” on rides in London, which raised £145m.

Uber UK general manager Andrew Brem.

But Mr Brem – who was formerly British Airways chief commercial officer – said people need access to multiple transport modes to help meet net zero targets, including ride-sharing, reliable public transport, and electric bikes and scooters.

“It’s not just about Uber vehicles. We partner with Lime bikes. If you’ve been around London, you’ll have seen them – even in inclement weather, they are huge,” Mr Brem said.

“Actually, the fastest way to get around Central London is not in a car or a bus. It is on a Lime bike. Loads of people are using them – and you can get them on the (Uber) app.”

In just two decades, e-scooters have grown into a worldwide market worth tens of billions of dollars a year.

But Melbourne follows cities from Barcelona to Montreal in banning or limiting where e-scooters can go. Researchers at the University of New South Wales report the growth of e-scooters has brought a rise in related injuries and hospital admissions, mostly from men aged in their late 20s to early 30s.

“I shouldn’t talk on behalf of our partners Lime, but I am a big Lime user and I read the papers. The issue is there anti-social behaviour on them like there is on many, many things around the city,” Mr Brem said.

“Unfortunately that anti-social behaviour includes the way some people drive the bikes and the way some people leave their bikes in places that are, to be honest, at worst a risk for pedestrians, particularly those who are visually impaired.”

The way some riders have left rental e-bikes and e-scooters has prompted bans in Melbourne and other cities.

But to make the use of e-bikes and scooters safer and more orderly, London has introduced dedicated parking areas in convenient locations.

“They’re dockless bike, so that’s great. But many parts of London, not all, are creating parking areas, often every 100 metres or so. Talking as a personal user, it makes sense. I mean there is one like 50 metres from my home,” Mr Brem said.

“So they’re not literally everywhere and if you are a user of Lime, the app doesn’t let you park unless the GPS says you’re in the correct zone. It’s very common sense. They’re still dockless, they’re still very easy to access.”

Uber is phasing out hybrid vehicles from its Green offering in Australia to make it all electric in London.

It is also encouraging Australians to give up their second car – with the number of passenger vehicle registrations outpacing population growth in the past 20 years – to help slash emissions and save people money.

It is completing a study in Sydney – involving more than 2400 people – who will give up their cars for three weeks to better understand the opportunities and pitfalls of “car-light living”.

A Lime E-Scooter in Sydney. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Cars cost Australian households about $364 a week on average – or $19,000 a year – according to the Australian Automotive Association. And the Climate Council says private cars account for about half the nation’s total transport emissions.

Mr Brem said it wasn’t about promoting ride-sharing over other transport modes.

“I say from the bottom of my heart, like if you want to go from A to B and the fastest way is on the tube, don’t use Uber. I really encourage people to use the mode of transport that makes most sense for them.

“And of course that includes public transport, and we regard Uber in London as being part of the public transport infrastructure, alongside buses and tubes and Lime bikes and everything else.”

Uber says in the third quarter of this year, more than 5,400 electric vehicles completed more than 2.3 million trips in Australia – accounting for about 5 per cent of all kilometres driven on the platform during this period. “While this reflects significant progress since Uber began its electrification journey Down Under in 2021, there’s still a lot of work to be done,” the company said.

Uber is also hoping to accelerate the second hand market for EVs, expanding a partnership with Car Empire, which imports used cars, to offer “affordable financing offers” for its drivers. This will cover 20 additional second hand and new EV models, including the MG MG4, Kia EV6 and Volvo EX30.

The author travelled to London as a guest of Uber.

Originally published as Lime e-scooters needed to help slash emissions, says Uber UK’s boss