COVID-19 is not great. Media tells us this every day and most of us have experienced significant drop in sales. But where there are losers there are winners. This time I am not referring to logistics companies or food deliveries but to another sector in transportation: micro mobility.
Uber is reportedly considering another investment into Lime. Bolt aims to launch scooters in 45 cities. Tier Mobility begins e-moped sharing scheme in Berlin. These news from around the world show the great push towards small, shared and individual transport options. But it is not only tech providers who are gearing up. Classic usage of bikes, scooters and motorbikes are growing significantly.
In these times of uncertainties, bike sales soar up for two main reasons: first, there is the price per month. In Malta, the costs are as low as €1.64 per day. Bikes are economical and can also be fuel free if you choose an e-Version.
The second reason is that getting from A to B in a city is still much faster on two wheels, especially taking the search for parking into consideration.
One point to be mentioned is that bikes are considered a safer means of transport due to social distancing.
As reported in a previous blog post more and more cities around the world take up the opportunity to return spaces from car traffic to pedestrians and bike users. Malta is talking about turning certain areas into pedestrian zones on weekends and holidays – but the voices already start to get louder to demand that those spaces should be entirely car free.
The Sales Director of WotoMoto, Neil Falzon told me that pushbikes sales are through the roof now and e-bikes are really pushing in the market too. “Traditional motorbike brands such as Royal Enfield and Keeway or new players like SuperSoco who produce only electric bikes, are pushing for the electric revolution. The consumer offering is finally a very attractive one.”
Motorbikes will become more relevant as a safer, cleaner, cheaper and more affordable means of transport in these challenging times and the more it gets used, the more relevant they become.
Written by Nicoletta Moss
Image by Gijs Coolen