E-scooter zone around Cambridge could double in size - and new e-bikes to be trialled
Plans to expand where you can pick up an e-scooter or e-bike could result in the boundary area roughly doubling in size in 2025.
Initial changes to the trial boundary took place from 18 December to remedy accessibility issues, making it possible to travel along the Histon to Girton link and to the University of Cambridge’s Laundry Farm.
Further expansion is expected to be rolled out in phases throughout 2025 following engagement with local areas, which will take place early next year.
New e-bikes that are lighter, lower, easier to get on and more manoeuvrable will also be trialled with an allocation of 200 to pilot in Cambridge initially.
This follows a successful year, where e-scooters and e-bikes have replaced nearly half a million – 454,000 – car trips, with 1.34 million saved since launching in 2020.
In four years, e-scooters and e-bikes have enabled users to travel a collective distance of 59 million miles – the equivalent to 240 trips around the world. Since 2020, e-scooter and e-bike use in Cambridge has helped to remove 649 tonnes of CO2e, the weight of four great blue whales, with 227 tonnes removed this year alone.
Dr Nik Johnson, the Labour mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “We are committed to providing residents with reliable and affordable public transport options and e-scooters and e-bikes are proving a convenient and enjoyable way to travel around the city, so I’m pleased to see them being rolled out further such that more people can benefit.”
James Bolton, general manager at e-scooter provider Voi UK, said: ‘We are very excited about this next stage of our expansion in Cambridgeshire. Our scheme in Cambridge is already one of the best-used in the UK, delivering significant benefits locally.
“Since we launched in Cambridge back in 2020, we have received regular requests from residents – including those from nearby towns and villages – about boosting our fleet size and operating area. We are pleased this expansion can now happen and look forward to working with CPCA and other local stakeholders to deliver safe, sustainable and affordable micromobility to more of Cambridgeshire.”