Northamptonshire’s e-scooter riders lead the way in modal shift

Feb 15, 2022

Northampton is the county town of Northamptonshire, and has been a hub of transport along the River Nene since medieval times, and then along the Royal Union Canal as industrialisation kicked in. Northampton is clearly, therefore, a town that moves with the times and one that does so in a fast and fluid manner.

Voi introduced e-scooters to the streets of Northampton in September 2020, with the Northamptonshire towns of Kettering following suit in December 2020, which created a domino effect with Corby, Wellingborough, Rushden & Higham Ferrers jumping on board in early 2021. Our Voi-ces series of videos attest to this, as you can see below.

Northamptonshire in pole position

Racing to be the best is a feature of Northamptonshire, home to the first British Grand Prix at Silverstone racetrack. With five towns embracing micromobility rather than carbon heavy transport, the county is taking pole position in the UK for geographic spread. This enthusiasm is demonstrated not only in our latest series of rider testimonials, but also by the fact that they have raced into the lead in terms of modal shift.

Northamptonshire is saying goodbye to their innate love of cars in their droves, with Kettering, for example, boasting 57% of riders saying their Voi journeys replaced ones by cars. Clive, for example, who lives in Northampton and regularly uses Voi to commute to work, says that “it definitely reduces pollution compared to driving, which is why I prefer to use it.”

In total, Northamptonshire’s Voiagers have replaced nearly 730,000 car trips since the beginning of the trial 16 months ago, and covered over 2.2 million miles which, to put it in an Northamptonshire context, is over 600,000 laps of Silverstone.

Luke, for example, celebrated, as he has been using them since the get-go. As you can see in the video below, Luke uses his e-scooter daily to go to work, as a respiratory condition has resulted in him having to stop cycling. As a company committed to creating micromobility for all, as part of our roadmap to inclusivity, Luke is a fine ambassador around accessible transport, saying: “Originally I was cycling to work and, for me, sometimes it can be very difficult for me to breathe a lot when I’m cycling. So I found it’s a lot more convenient and easier that these were around, at the time when I decided to move further away from work.”

Micromobility for all

Creating an accessible service for Voi is about many things, not just mobility or health needs. It’s also about covering a wide geographical area. Inclusion and equity in transport must also mean that it is affordable and our being flexible to cater for many communities’ needs. For students, for example, we have a Voi 4 Students Pass, which gives 20% discount to students and staff at UK higher education institutes. As you can see in the video below, this makes Chante sing the praises of Voi who confirms that: “It’s very affordable…I’ll tell [people] to try it out 100%…it’s effective…and you can get around quickly.”

This ethos of making micromobility work for everyone was also applied during the height of the pandemic when our Voi 4 Heroes Pass, which currently allows NHS and emergency workers to subscribe to a discounted Monthly Pass. Read more about a Northampton NHS employee’s experience of having access to free Vois during that time.


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