Oxford clocks up 1 million rides on Voi e-scooters

Oxford, 12 July 2023: People in Oxford have taken 1 million trips on e-scooters in the city over the last three years.

Since the e-scooter trial was launched in partnership with Voi in February 2021, public hire e-scooters have become an important addition to transport in the city, with just over 68,000 people in Oxford now signed up to Voi, using them to commute to work and education.

E-scooters are a sustainable mode of travel, clocking up over 1.3 million miles and reducing CO2 emissions in the city by an estimated 160 tonnes.

Voi has worked with several organisations to improve riders’ experience, including with Oxfordshire County Council to collaboratively address the costs of living by encouraging those on low income to take advantage of a 50% discount to ride Voi e-scooters.

They also recently partnered with Wolfson College to provide a fleet of six dedicated e-scooters to the college to help students travel around the city sustainably.

Voi also pledged four of its long-term rental e-scooters to the Oxford City Angels project, which supports women’s safety through patrols and engagement overnight from 10pm on Saturday to 4am on Sunday every weekend.

Oxford City Angels volunteers can use the e-scooters to provide help to vulnerable people, covering a large area quickly and economically.

An independent socio economic impact report commissioned by Voi last October forecast that the e-scooter scheme in Oxford could boost High Street spending by £10.5 million over the course of the trial period. The trial is currently set to run by May 2024 – in line with government extension of the trials.

A recent survey by Voi among riders in Oxfordshire found that over half of respondents use e-scooters to travel to and from work or for social events.

The survey found that most people like them because they’re easy to use, enjoyable, and promote more sustainable transport options.

Jack Samler, Regional General Manager for Voi UK, Ireland and France, said: 

“Our Oxford trial has grown in popularity, with more and more people choosing to use scooters for short trips to work, for socialising, to go to the shops or appointments and to get to university.

“Since the scheme was launched in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council, we’ve increased the number of scooters and expanded the scheme so more people can benefit from using e-scooters across a wider area 24 hours a day, providing a new, easy-to-use and affordable means of transport.”

As part of Voi’s mission to provide safe, sustainable and reliable micromobility for all, Voi riders can take advantage of Voi for All discounts which provide discounted travel to people on low incomes, including refugees and asylum seekers, disabled people and people over 65, to help with the cost of living.

For further information, please contact: 

Juliette Maxam, Senior PR manager, Voi UK, Ireland and France

juliette.maxam@voiapp.io

About Voi 

Founded in 2018, Voi is a Swedish micromobility company offering e-scooter and e-bike sharing in partnership with towns, cities and local communities. We believe e-scooters can play a central role in changing how people move in our towns and cities in the future. We want to ensure that the micromobility transformation happens the right way - through real innovative technology, open and transparent dialogue with towns, cities and governments and by adapting our products to local needs. Voi’s holistic Environmental Action Plan tackles emissions and promotes renewable energy use and circularity along its supply chain. 

Voi operates in over 100 towns and cities across 11 countries. It is headquartered in Stockholm and employs 1,000 people. To date, Voi boasts more than seven million riders and has served more than 150+ million rides.