The call for evidence asked questions on the three areas: micromobility vehicles, flexible bus services and Mobility as a Service. Specifically: 

• whether certain micromobility vehicles (such as electric scooters) should be permitted on the road, and if so what vehicle and user requirements would be appropriate
• how effective existing rules are around flexible bus services, and which other areas of the bus, taxi and private hire vehicle framework should be considered in this review
• what the opportunities and risks of MaaS platforms might be, and what role central and local governments should play in their development

CIHT welcomes the trials of micromobility vehicles, but they must be safe to use which the ongoing trials of the micromobility vehicles needs to ensure. An important part of micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, being safe to operate is that the roads they drive on are in good condition. CIHT recommends that greater effort is put towards improving local highways as set out in CIHT's report published earlier in 2020.

If micromobility vehicles can help make people switch from car trips that would be positive, however evidence to suggest that they have done this at a significant scale in other countries where they have been trialled for a while has been scarce so far. It will be interesting to see how micromobility vehicles, in particular e-scooters, are received in the United Kingdom and CIHT expects that the Department for Transport will be closely monitoring how the new vehicles will be used. 

In terms of flexible bus services and Mobility as a Service CIHT believes that it is important that regulation is made more conducive towards delivering flexible passenger transport services that are suited to local needs. Such services have the potential to transform public transport and make it a more attractive form for transport. Local authorities should have the powers to design and develop services appropriate to the local community.

For CIHT's full response to the consultation please see here.