The benefits of sustainable travel

Words by Micro Scooters

July 01, 2024

3 minutes

We passionately believe spending active time outside makes people healthy and happy. As our cities and towns become increasingly congested, now is the time for change. Creating environments for people that are easy to negotiate provides innumerable health benefits and is cost-efficient. This is at the very heart of the sustainable travel movement.

Put simply, we cannot continue with the status quo as a society. Now is a time for innovative thinking and easy-to-use, cost-effective solutions.

Why is sustainable travel important?

The health benefits of sustainable travel.

A recent study found that ‘Transport accounts for nearly a quarter of current energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, with car travel constituting more than three-quarters of all vehicle kilometres travelled.’

Our society’s dependence on car use is having a detrimental impact on the health of our nation. We are getting fatter, our children are getting fatter. The latest NHS figures report that over 26% of adults in the UK are classed as obese (that’s a rise of 15% from 1993). Perhaps more worryingly in 2016/17 10% of children starting school were classified as obese.

Encouraging more of us to leave our cars at home more often will positively impact a generation's health. A study from Brighton University has shown scooting can burn a whopping 300kcals an hour. Other studies have shown the health benefits of cycling and walking.

The health of a generation is at stake, so the sustainable transport movement needs to be at the top of everyone’s agenda.

The financial benefits of sustainable travel.

‘The cost per minute of the commute is like calling a premium rate number as fare rises continue to rise’ – Campaign for Better Transport.

According to an article on the Investing Strategy website, public transport in UK cities is the most expensive in Europe.

Some government bodies estimate that, on average, an individual spends up to 15% of their income on transport costs.

The financial benefits of sustainable travel are not just for our personal pocket. The economic benefits of providing solutions that are more cost-efficient to run, require less maintenance and have less reliance on expensive products to run them could provide huge cost savings to the government. Which, in turn, could free up money to be spent elsewhere.

Sustainable travel to school.

We have form in this area. Did you know that now, over 2 million children scoot to school every day? 20 years ago, when we invented the first folding aluminium scooter, this was pretty much unheard of. A revolution is sweeping the school run, and we are proud to be at the forefront.

From encouraging and supporting initiatives likes Sustrans’ Big Pedal to our own “free wheel Fridays” and “wheelie Wednesdays” we are huge advocates of getting children and their families to travel to school in a sustainable and fun way.

We support schools and local councils with discounted rates on scooters and bikes. We can also provide the infrastructure for you to do so. From providing children’s safety helmets, lights and locks to donating adult scooters to school to enable whole families to get to the school gates sustainably.

Sustainable travel accreditation and recognition for schools.

A wealth of government funding is available to schools to support their sustainable travel efforts. The more cars at the school gates, the more air pollution there is and the worse the health of our children will be.

Stopping car use at your school may seem impossible, but some organisations (including ours) can help you and provide funding to do so.

Contact us, and we can help supply discounted scooters and bikes for your school population to trial.

Local government departments have funding available to help you. Take the example of some London schools that have been awarded £10,000 each to tackle air pollution outside their schools.

Schemes such as Travel for Life, TFL’s accreditation scheme for London schools, are great places to get inspired with ideas for your school. Local organisations may also be untapped resources of financial help for your school. They may sponsor a banner outside your school or give prizes to families who come to school more sustainably.

Sustainable travel to work.

A study of 2,000 workers found those who take the train, tube or bus are three times more stressed – and twice as tired – as those able to walk all or most of the journey.

Tired, stressed employees will not be healthy, happy, productive employees. We believe more organisations should do more to provide a healthy environment for their employees.

At Micro Scooters, we run a corporate scooter scheme. Get in touch to find out how we can help.

The benefits of introducing a different way to travel for your employees include:

• Happier, more productive employees
• Helps to strengthen your CSR policy
• Cuts down on your expenses bill for taxis and parking
• Employees can scoot between meetings or locations
• End the war on car parking spaces
• Scooting every day is proven to increase concentration levels.

Where is sustainable travel headed?

We think the immediate future is in sharing apps. With the likes of Bird and Lime introducing electric scooter sharing in America and electric scooter schemes being an everyday thing across Europe, we believe the wheels are headed in the right direction. However, in the long term, we believe electric scooter ownership is a more sustainable solution.

Making sustainable transport methods easy and accessible for people across the UK is essential. Legislation must catch up with what the pioneers of sustainable transport are trying to achieve.

Scooting provides an easy and efficient way for people to conduct their “first and last mile” journeys. It's great for the environment, has excellent health benefits and is easy on the pocket, too.

The technology is there. The need for sustainable transport solutions is huge. We believe that government and legislators need to keep up for creativity and innovative ideas to happen.

How Micro Scooters can help with your sustainable travel plans.

We can provide scooters, bikes and accessories at a reduced cost/free of charge to schools.

We can provide scooters, bikes and accessories at a reduced cost/free of charge to workplaces.

We run sustainable travel schemes, including Scoot Safe and National Scoot to School Week you can get involved in.

We run Scooter Aid, our charitable scheme which donates scooters to good causes across the UK.

If you would like to contact us about anything to do with sustainable transport, please email us, pick up the phone or contact us via social media links below.