- Cambridge University and Voi win E-Mobility Project of the Year for Travel at Work escooters pilot at the Sustainable Travel Awards 2023.
- The initiative, led by the University’s Environmental Sustainability Team, promotes sustainable urban commuting.
- escooters and ebikes play a crucial role, reducing emissions, cutting commute times, and garnering national recognition.
Cambridge University and Voi’s win and proves the successes of escooters and micro-mobility solutions
Cambridge University, with micromobility trailblazer Voi, secured the E-Mobility Project of the Year at the National Sustainable Travel Awards 2023. This achievement is a significant milestone for their Travel at Work pilot initiative, devised by the University’s Environmental Sustainability Team. The award highlights the project’s impactful efforts in promoting sustainable urban commuting.
In the initial six months, the pilot skyrocketed with over 500 escooter and ebike trips, involving 16 university departments. The impetus lies in providing university staff free credits to zip between sites on ebikes or escooters. That puts a sizable dent in the university’s carbon footprint.

Why the buzz?
Escooters and ebikes are changing urban mobility. Slashing emissions and taming air pollution, they champion a 47% cut in commuting time, simultaneously unclogging city streets. Since Cambridge welcomed public hire escooters in October 2020, they’ve outpaced cars, replacing an incredible 900,000 journeys and covering nearly 4 million miles.
The ripple effect is a cleaner, healthier urban landscape. But it doesn’t stop there. Voi steps up with “Voi for All,” ensuring these micro-mobility marvels are accessible to students, low-income individuals, refugees, the differently-abled, and those aged 65 and above.
Emma Hughes, Voi’s Senior Manager Global Partnerships, said:
“We’re thrilled to receive this award with Cambridge University and proud to be part of this innovative pilot programme to help reduce the university’s carbon footprint.
With no emissions, every single e-scooter and e-bike trip that replaces a car journey is helping to transform UK towns and cities into cleaner and healthier places to live, work and visit.”
Escooters and wider micro-mobility solutions have become popular the world over. Notably, they save a lot of time. Escooters boast a median of 5.6 minutes per trip, resulting in a huge 45.3% decrease in total travel time.
Mike Davies, Transport Team Manager for the University of Cambridge said:
“Growing numbers of staff have found the e-scooters and e-bikes to be a convenient, safe, and enjoyable means of moving around between sites during the working day. It’s great that the scheme has been recognised nationally.”
Escooters serve a massive function in reducing congestion. During peak hours, shared escooter trips shave off 46.4% of travel time and eliminate 15,811 km from motorized transport modes. Digging deeper into the mode shift, they divert 37% of trips from foot, 19% from cars, and a dance between buses, cycles, and public transport modes.
In a world grappling with urbanization’s challenges, escooters emerge not just as gadgets but as transformative tools. The streets are becoming cleaner, commute times shorter, and the journey towards a sustainable urban future gains momentum.