Features
13 mai 21

Detailed look at "high-stakes year" for shared mobilty in Europe

2021 is a “high-stakes year” for shared mobility in Europe, says Fluctuo in its first quarterly benchmark. It’s hard to generalise about an industry so driven by local circumstances. So the report doesn’t, focusing instead on 16 key cities. One common element does emerge: the pandemic hit shared mobility hit hard, but the various modes are recovering – at different rates. 

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Fluctuo aggregates data from more than 200 mobility providers across 80 European cities. For its first European Shared Mobility Index, reporting on Q1 2021, it focuses on 16 European cities (see below), selected to highlight diversity in size, geography, and market type.

Four mobility modes

Those are: two each in Germany (Hamburg, Berlin), France (Paris, Bordeaux), Italy (Milan, Rome), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona), the Benelux (Rotterdam, Brussels) and the Nordics (Stockholm, Oslo); plus Vienna, Prague, London, and Warsaw. 

The information concerns four mobility modes: shared bicycles (free-floating and docked), scooters, mopeds, and cars (free-floating, station-based, and peer-to-peer).
Not included are services that offer ridesharing (Uber, Bolt, etc.) carpooling (BlaBlaCar, etc.), or long-term rental (e.g. Swapfiets). 

A few interesting stats right off the bat:

  • Paris is by far the city with the most shared vehicles overall: close to 50,000 versus less than 40,000 for Berlin and barely 20,000 for Milan.
  • The composition of the offer varies widely. In London, it’s almost all bicycles. In Oslo and Stockholm, scooters. In Barcelona and Madrid, mopeds, though still a minority, make up the largest share. 
  • Lots of variation also in the per-capita penetration of shared vehicles, Oslo leads the pack (more than 200 vehicles per 10,000 inhabitants), followed by Milan and Stockholm (almost 150). Worst in class: Prague, Rotterdam, Vienna, and London (all fewer than 50).

Ridership recovering

The report points out that ridership, although down again since late last year, has not collapsed as it has in the spring of 2020, and is recovering. Of the four modes described, carsharing seems to have suffered the smallest losses. Some interesting data on each:

  • Shared bikes. In terms of trip volume, Paris is the champion for docked shared bikes, followed by Barcelona and Madrid. For free-floating shared bikes, the crown goes to Milan, followed by Stockholm and (again) Paris.
  • Scooters. At 200 scooters per 10,000 inhabitants, Oslo has the highest density, not just of all 16 cities, but also of any mobility mode. However, in terms of trip volume, the winner is Bordeaux, followed by Stockholm and Milan.
  • Mopeds. Sharing a moped costs an average of €0.24 per minute, ranging from €0.15 in Warsaw to €0.31 in Paris. Hot spot for moped sharing is the Plaza Mayor, in Madrid.
  • Shared cars. Berlin is the capital for shared cars in terms of per-capita ratio (almost 20 per 10,000) but Vienna is the top city in terms of trip volume, followed by Milan and Hamburg. Average price: €4.54 per hour, ranging from €2 in Brussels to €9.30 in Stockholm.

City-specific measures

Also featured in the report are a few city profiles. The features reveal the variety – and the relevance – of city-specific measures in terms of promoting certain types of shared mobility. 

  • Paris. The city has placed limits on the number of authorised shared scooter operators, as a result of which there are currently only three. Carsharing is consolidating around OEM-supported operators. Shared mobility in Paris remains dominated by Vélib’, a subsidised docking system. 
  • Warsaw. Municipal bike operator NextBike has a monopoly. Due to the city’s hands-off approach for other modes, competition in the scooter and carsharing markets is intense. Adding to the pressure is Warsaw’s high seasonality: most operators close or reduce services in winter. 
  • Milan. The city caps scooter and bicycle fleets with a maximum number per operator but imposes a minimum fleet size for car-sharing and mopeds. As a result, Milan’s market is among the most diverse and competitive in Europe.
  • Hamburg. One of the only cities in Germany to cap e-scooters at 1,000 per operator. Also unique: operators must share data with the city. Hamburg is actively working to bring shared mobility to areas underserved by public transport. 

Battle for Barcelona

Fluctuo’s quarterly report also offers an overview of major financing deals (including €70 million for Dolt in April), the biggest launches (e.g. WeShare’s launch of 800 VW ID.3s in Hamburg), and remarkable market exits (such as SixtShare’s withdrawal from Rotterdam, citing high parking costs). 

It also shines an interesting spotlight on the ‘Battle for Barcelona’ between moped providers, some of which have taken the City of Barcelona to court for allowing unfair competition. In turn, the city has issued the first fines to providers breaching fleet limits.

Find the entire report here.


Images:

A woman gliding on an e-scooter through Prague (credit: Shutterstock)

Overview of the 16 key cities examined in the first quarterly European Shared Mobility Index (credit: Fluctuo)

Authored by: Frank Jacobs