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E-scooter experiment: Tobias Griesmeier and Maryna Pobudzei take stock of the past five years
22.08.2024
How useful are e-scooters really as a mobility alternative? How high is the demand? And what about safety and environmental compatibility? Tobias Griesmeier (Head of Regulatory Affairs at TIER Mobility) and Marina Pobudzei (Researcher & Project Lead - Shared Micromobility in the MORE Sharing project for the Bundeswehr University Munich) provide the answers to these and many other exciting questions in the following interview.
Was and is there a demand for e-scooters in Germany, Tobias?
Tobias Griesmeier: Yes, absolutely. And we can still see the need today if we look at the roads and go back to 2023.
Drivers spent over 400,000 hours in traffic jams that year. Munich once again became Germany's traffic jam capital, with every citizen there spending over 74 hours in traffic jams. So we can see that this is causing incredible economic damage and, of course, also very serious damage to the climate and to people's health. So there is definitely a great need for mobility alternatives, both then in 2019 and now in 2024.
And if we take a closer look at the cities, we see, for example, that almost 40 percent of journeys made by private car are no longer than two kilometers. 70 percent of inner-city car journeys are less than five kilometers. So there is enormous potential to be exploited here. Not only for e-scooters, by the way, but also for all other sharing services that are available, from bike sharing to car sharing, as well as for public transport. In other words, the need for mobility alternatives is just as great today as it was in 2019.
Tobias, you naturally represent the perspective of an e-scooter provider. But what is the demand from a scientific perspective, Maryna?
Maryna Pobudzei: E-scooters are particularly popular in big cities. They offer more flexible and faster transportation. They can also be easily integrated into existing transportation systems, which should not be underestimated. We also have apps that allow us to rent vehicles flexibly, which plays a super important role in their use. Scooters offer an alternative to other means of transportation and they can actually close gaps in mobility services. Various studies have also proven this. That's why they are definitely an alternative that is popular.
Tobias, what conclusions can you draw after five years of e-scooter operation with a focus on the city of Munich?
Tobias Griesmeier: Firstly, our review from a business perspective is very positive. Because we can see that we have really hit a nerve with our offering. We have a high level of demand. Users want to get around the city quickly and without traffic jams. That is clear. But as someone who also talks a lot with the cities and meets a lot with political decision-makers, my assessment is a little more sober. On the one hand, we see that municipal climate protection plans and transport strategies increasingly see sharing and e-scooters as a necessary component. However, cities are still finding it very difficult to implement them.
In my opinion, the car is too often pitted against all other forms of mobility - in some cases also between the different modes of transport - and many projects are then often prevented. We also see the same thing in federal policy. We have now finally got the amendment to the Road Traffic Act. This means that the establishment of cycle paths or 30 km/h zones is much easier. But the road to this was very political and arduous and has not really been completed yet. The Road Traffic Act is still quite a big construction site. I therefore believe that there is still a lot to do. We, as a sharing provider, have also made a start. We now have discussions that we didn't have five years ago. In other words, what does the distribution of public space look like? Do we need more space for other means of transportation and other things? There is a discussion going on, but it is far from over.
E-scooter providers should be obliged to develop a concrete concept for the recycling of defective e-scooters. Municipalities could also support education and awareness-raising campaigns to inform citizens about the correct, environmentally friendly and safe use of e-scooters.
Maryna Pobudzei
Researcher & Project Lead - Shared Micromobility,
University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich
Maryna, you are researching the planning and implementation of micromobility sharing projects and also the integration of new mobility into existing transport services. What conclusions can you draw after five years of e-scooter sharing?
Maryna Pobudzei: We have even developed our own multimodal sharing system at the Bundeswehr University. It's called "More Sharing" and was a reaction to the services that are already available in cities. We are working in cooperation with a Munich-based company called "iVico" and also have an app that gives our users access to a wide range of micromobility vehicles. This means we have city bikes, e-bikes, cargo bikes, e-mobiles and, of course, e-scooters. Multimobility was particularly important to us when developing the range. This is because we are primarily researching the routes for which certain means of transport are used and for which routes they are suitable. E-scooters, for example, have proven to be particularly popular, especially as a quick connection to public transport and also for short journeys within the campus grounds, as Tobias has already mentioned. We regularly ask our users what they think about it and the feedback we get is that they enjoy using the scooters. When we introduced the system, we carried out surveys and wanted to know which means of transportation users wanted to include in the system. At first, everyone just wanted normal bikes. But later, when the service was available on campus, it became clear that the scooters were particularly popular. We will definitely take them with us: If there is a multimodal offer, then e-scooters are definitely in demand.
Tobias, how many rentable e-scooters are there in Germany and how many people use them?
Tobias Griesmeier: Well, we are definitely seeing more and more scooters and also more and more users since 2019. We are currently talking about around 200,000 vehicles that are on the road in Germany for sharing. There are also around 700,000 privately used e-scooters. So there is quite a lot going on on German roads and, of course, there has also been a growing user base over the last five years. At TIER Mobility alone, we were able to generate around 32 million journeys in Germany last year. And we see, not just with us, but across the entire industry, that most journeys take place during the week. That's around 75 percent, and most of them take place during the classic commuting times from seven to eight in the morning and then again from four in the afternoon. This means that the e-scooter is used for exactly the routes for which it is intended. The first and last mile to the office, to public transport, to work, to university and so on. However, we can also see that compared to 2019, when sharing operations were just getting started, we are now seeing not only an urban but also a far more regional offering. This means that e-scooters in sharing are not only to be found in large cities, but now also in medium-sized towns and small towns with 50-60,000 inhabitants. Of course, this makes it much more exciting for users because you can achieve a much better connection with neighboring cities. If I can cover first and last mile services better with the e-scooter and get to public transport more quickly, for example, then I can also get to neighboring towns, workplaces or universities more quickly. This link is exactly what we have been trying to achieve since 2019 and many studies now confirm that we have succeeded in doing just that.
Maryna, is the infrastructure for e-scooters even sufficient and do the many discussions about limiting public space make sense when you look at the figures?
Maryna Pobudzei: Infrastructure is definitely a key issue and yes, it definitely needs to be improved. We have a growing usage, which makes a separate infrastructure for e-scooters and at least pedestrians absolutely necessary. We need to avoid conflicts and increase road safety. Speed limits in public spaces are important here. In very concentrated areas, for example, we need this safety, which can also be technically implemented there. In fact, fixed parking spaces also ensure more order, which in turn leads to fewer complaints about scooters standing around. In summary, the infrastructure can clearly be improved.
How environmentally friendly are e-scooters, Tobias?
Tobias Griesmeier: Of course, we have a very strong business interest in ensuring that the vehicles last as long as possible. As perhaps very few people know, this also applies to refinancing. Because it is only through a long service life that loans can be taken out on an existing fleet and then used for investments. No bank in the world would lend on vehicles that only last a few months. That's why we always try to think about sustainability as holistically as possible. After all, it makes no sense to offer locally emission-free mobility if everything else around it, from production and logistics to recycling, is not taken into account. That's why a holistic approach is essential for us. It starts with production. We are trying to gradually increase the recycling rate of the materials we use. This applies to green electricity in the workshops and offices, but also to aluminum in particular. In operations, it is of course important to us that our own logistics, i.e. replacing batteries or collecting maintenance-prone vehicles, are as emission-free as possible. For example, we use cargo bikes or smaller electric vehicles. Perhaps one point about the batteries: back in 2018/2019, I think, there was still a lot of internal and external public concern that the batteries or battery packs were very susceptible to failure and therefore precisely the area where sustainability might not be possible. We don't actually see that at all. We see that we have batteries that last a very long time and are also very suitable for secondary use. In other words, we pass on our battery packs for private solar power storage, for example, so that the batteries have a second life.
For stationary storage, where I don't need this fast charging and discharging capability?
Tobias Griesmeier: Exactly. What we are achieving is that the current models are currently at around 40 grams of CO2 per passenger kilometer. This makes us three to four times more sustainable than cars and also more sustainable than public transport. So the stories from 2018/2019 about e-scooters not lasting long, being harmful to the environment and not being sustainable are thankfully a thing of the past. But both suppliers and manufacturers have done their job here.
Maryna, how safe are e-scooters?
Maryna Pobudzei: We have actually analyzed accidents involving bicycles and e-scooters in Munich. It became clear that in Munich, accidents involving both bicycles and e-scooters are concentrated on the main roads. Especially where there are many intersections and mixed use. E-scooter accidents mainly occur in the city center, whereas bicycle accidents are actually evenly distributed throughout the city. Accident rates increase in milder weather and especially in summer. However, accidents involving e-scooters occur more frequently in the evening and at night, while bicycle accidents are more common on weekdays, in the mornings and afternoons. This is presumably linked to the frequency of use. In addition, cyclists are on average older than e-scooter riders, meaning that the age distribution is broader. On the other hand, the proportion of drunk drivers and runaways is higher among e-scooter users than among cyclists. However, I have to say that we had a much larger database of bicycle accidents. So we had a lot more bicycle accidents than e-scooter accidents. But if you calculate as a percentage, then there was a higher proportion of drunk driving among e-scooter riders.
Tobias Griesmeier: Of course, we also look very, very closely at the issue of safety. We can see that, logically, accidents have increased in recent years. In 2018, we had practically zero e-scooters on German roads officially. Now there are a good million and of course accidents are also on the rise. However, we can see that accidents are falling in line with the increasing fleet. In 2023, for example, we had over 40 percent fewer accidents than in the previous year across Europe and accidents involving serious injuries are also falling significantly. It is therefore fair to say that scooters are just as safe as bicycles and this is also regularly proven by studies. What is very, very important here is that we must of course ensure that safe vehicles are available. This applies to the manufacturers as well as the providers. But of course we also need a good, consistent and, above all, safe infrastructure. That is the be-all and end-all. We already know from studies in the cycling sector, for example, that the irregular use of footpaths decreases significantly as soon as there are safe cycle paths. Therefore, the appeal can only be repeated and simply remains important that we absolutely need a structural separation of car lanes, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. In my opinion, it is also important that the sharing sector, the private user sector, the scientific community and citizens themselves continue to persistently lobby politicians to ensure that we have safe traffic routes. Because we can only achieve a mobility turnaround with safe transportation routes. When people feel safe and then also enjoy using such mobility services.
It is important that the industry and citizens persistently lobby politicians to ensure that we have safe transportation routes. Only when people feel safe on the roads and enjoy using these mobility services will we achieve the mobility turnaround.
Tobias Griesmeier
Head of Regulatory Affairs, TIER Mobility
Do local authorities also have an opportunity to increase the environmental footprint and sustainability of these micro mobility solutions?
Tobias Griesmeier: I'm actually less concerned about the issue of sustainability. This is largely in the hands of the providers and we do everything we can to ensure that our offering is as sustainable as possible. Of course, this only works if it goes hand in hand with the city. So we also need to be able to integrate ourselves into the local public transport system, for example. This means that digital services must be linkable so that this added value of sharing, first/last mile and linking with other mobility carriers also works. I am more concerned about two other issues.
Firstly, acceptance. We have just talked about infrastructure and parking spaces. We can see that a lot is happening here. A lot is happening in the city of Munich, Düsseldorf is investing heavily in mobile stations for sharing and I think that's a very good thing and definitely desirable. Incidentally, it's also a good thing for those who don't use sharing services, because it naturally tidies up public spaces and makes sharing services more visible. Our aim is for sharing services to be as visible and present in public spaces as local public transport. I know where every underground or suburban train station is. That's exactly how I would like it to be for a sharing station. That would make it much more attractive and also increase acceptance.
The second issue that really concerns me is public budgets. What we are seeing at the moment: Money is getting tight everywhere. It starts at federal level, at state level. In my opinion, we can see many despondent politicians these days who are finding it very difficult to maintain the price of a Deutschlandticket over the next few years. I find that extremely regrettable, because it sends out a very bad and negative signal for a turnaround in transportation, for an extremely successful product. On the other hand, we can also see that municipal budgets are under enormous pressure. Many cities have to make savings and now have a budget shortfall in 2024. This will increase again in 2025 and there are already fears that cuts will be made in areas such as mobility, the transport transition and sharing services. This means, for example, that mobile stations will no longer be built or cycle paths will be questioned. What we also see from the provider's point of view is that the costs for the providers are also being turned upwards, i.e. higher fees for the providers. That clearly doesn't fit together. On the one hand, there are climate protection plans and transport strategies that clearly call for more sharing. At the same time, however, the costs for providers are increased, which in turn leads to higher per-minute prices for users. That doesn't fit together here and is actually my bigger concern than sustainability.
Maryna, what do local authorities and cities need to do for sustainable solutions?
Maryna Pobudzei: We realize that requirements for vehicle durability and drivability are definitely important. I think this point definitely needs to be included in tenders. The bidders should be required to have a concrete concept for recycling the defective e-scooters and the planning should also provide for integration into the existing traffic concept. For example, the creation of parking zones for e-scooters. Because sidewalks simply have to be kept free. This in turn increases acceptance and people get used to this type of vehicle. Municipalities can also support education and awareness-raising campaigns that inform citizens about the correct use and environmentally friendly and safe practices when handling e-scooters. So it should be a consistent approach. Fifty years ago, bicycles were also new as a means of transportation and people got used to using these vehicles. That's why I think this will also be the case for e-scooters.
The interview was conducted by Christoph Raithel, Event Team Leader at Bayern Innovativ GmbH.
Listen to the full interview as a podcast:
E-scooters: 2 perspectives on 5 years of road approval (17.07.2024)
In this episode, Christoph Raithel talks to Tobias Griesmeier, Head of Regulatory Affairs at TIER Mobility, and Maryna Pobudzei, Researcher & Project Lead - Shared Micromobility in the MORE Sharing project for the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich. Together they look back on 5 years of road approval for e-scooters, how electric scooters have made urban mobility more flexible so far and what role they play in safety and environmental compatibility, among other things.
