Transport and Covid-19: responses and resources

Good to Go? Assessing the Environmental Performance of New Mobility

This report examines the climate impact of personal and shared electric kick-scooters, bicycles, e-bikes, electric mopeds, as well as car-based ride-sharing services. Users in cities across the globe are rapidly adopting new mobility forms, helped by digital connectivity and electrification technologies. New urban mobility services are often sold as “green” solutions. But what is their real impact on energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions? This study analyses the life-cycle performance of a range of new vehicles and services based on their technical characteristics, operation and maintenance, and compares it with that of privately owned cars and public transport. Finally, the report identifies solutions to make new mobility a useful part of the urban transport mix while helping to reduce energy use and limit climate change.

ITF analysis is based on an assessment tool developed for this project. Download it here (Excel)

Click here for further information about the project and for workshop presentations

Policy Insights

  • Leverage existing reporting obligations and introduce new requirements for micromobility providers to make evidence-based policy decisions.
  • Focus interventions aiming at clean mobility on ridesourcing vehicles with high lifetime travel.
  • Set incentives to increase occupancy of ridesourcing vehicles.
  • Standardise methodologies for the evaluation of shared micromobility’s life-cycle emissions and introduce minimum performance requirements via market entry rule and/or operating licenses.
  • Strengthen synergies between public transport and shared micromobility.

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