Utrecht aims for shared transport instead of car ownership

The municipality of Utrecht writes on its website that shared transport should be more self-evident for Utrecht residents by 2030 than owning a car. That intention comes from alderman Van Hooijdonk. Currently, about 30 percent of the inhabitants of the municipality of Utrecht do not have their own car. That percentage would not be lower in any other city. Nevertheless, car ownership in the city must be further reduced, according to Van Hooijdonk.

In order to allow Utrecht to grow in a healthy way, Utrecht says that it gives priority to walking, cycling, public transport and shared mobility over individual transport in a private car. “By sharing, the number of parked cars and the number of car journeys in the city decreases, and thus we create more space for greenery, for children to play and more space to meet each other in the street,” says Van Hooijdonk. In addition, Utrecht believes that shared cars are generally cleaner than privately owned cars.

Utrecht wants to increase the supply of shared transport, but that does not mean that the city council is opening its gates so that companies can go about their business completely freely with the provision of services. The municipality states that it will retain control in order to prevent possible nuisance due to the number of shared bicycles, mopeds, scooters and cars. Utrecht wants to develop ‘neighborhood and district hubs’ where local residents and visitors can find various forms of transport. In addition, residents of the city who live in a place where paid parking is introduced will be offered an offer to switch to shared transport. Remarkable: the permit for shared electric mopeds will not be extended. The municipality concludes that users travel an average of 3.7 kilometers with an electric shared moped, which is the same amount as traveled with an electric shared bicycle. The number of electric shared bicycles will therefore be increased from 500 to 1,000.