U.K.’s 39 Bike Hire Schemes Remove 3.7 Car Miles Per User Per Week, Finds Report

Thirty-nine bike-share schemes across the U.K. are reducing car mileage, finds the latest annual report from Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK), which promotes the benefits of shared transport, including shared cars and bicycles e-scooters.

Bike share is a “catalyst” to getting people back on bicycles, said CoMoUK’s CEO Richard Dilks.

“Bike share supports health and wellbeing, triggers sustainable travel behaviors, cuts car miles, and works alongside bike ownership,” added Dilks.

Each user of bike-share bikes is reducing their car travel by an estimated 3.7 miles every week, found CoMoUK’s analysis.

The study also found that e-bikes—in those cities that offer them—particularly encourage newbies, reducing journey times and helping riders to tackle hills.

53% of all bike-share users said they would have made their last trips by car or taxi if bike share had not been available. 34% of those using e-bikes said they were replacing car or taxi trips of more than five miles per week, compared to 24% of non-e-bike users.

The results have been published in the sixth annual bike share report from the charity, which states there were 22,789 share bikes in operation last year. New sites introduced in 2021 included Cambridge and York.

More than 4,000 users took part in the research.

“There are many personal benefits of taking up cycling, and it’s encouraging to see e-bikes becoming increasingly popular,” said Dilks.

“Ultimately, if we are to achieve ambitious net-zero targets, we need to address the issue of private vehicle ownership,” concluded Dilks.