A survey of e-scooter riders has found that a third of the trips on the micromobility vehicles operated by Neuron Mobility replaced car journeys. The survey was carried out in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Outside of the UK, Neuron Mobility operates e-scooter rentals in several cities in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Canada. It was founded in Singapore in 2016 by Zachary Wang and Harry Yu, currently the company’s CEO and CTO respectively.
Rental e-scooters are currently on trial in several UK cities, with the Department for Transport monitoring their use before deciding whether to allow the devices to be used nationally. Despite the fact the use of privately-owned e-scooters is now a common sight in UK cities, the battery-powered micro vehicles remain illegal to use on the public highway, including roads, cycleways and sidewalks.
Neuron e-scooters were introduced in Newcastle earlier this year. A company survey found that 60% of users have combined their e-scooter journeys with another form of public transport, including Tyneside’s Metro light rail service. More than 1,400 passes for NHS and emergency service staff have been issued by Neuron in the city, with key workers taking around 13,000 free rides to date. “The e-scooters are helping boost the local economy with an impressive 61% of all rides in Newcastle having resulted in a purchase at a local business,” claims a Neuron Mobility statement.
In partnership with Newcastle City Council, Neuron uses GPS-enabled geofencing technology to control where the e-scooters can and cannot be ridden and parked, and how fast they can travel in slow-zones, no-ride zones and no-parking zones.