Ms Aisling Dunne:

On behalf of Bolt, I thank the Chairman and members for providing us with the opportunity to make a submission in advance of Committee Stage of the Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021. Bolt's mission is to help build cities for people, not cars, with enough on-demand transport options available so that people do not need to own a private vehicle. We are currently providing sustainable mobility solutions to more than 100 million customers in 45 countries across Europe and Africa. The services available include taxis, electric bikes, scooters, car sharing, food delivery and fast grocery delivery. In Ireland, we currently operate our taxi dispatch service in Dublin and we plan to roll it out in Cork in the coming weeks. We intend to considerably expand our transport offering here, with electric bikes and car sharing both potential schemes for this year. Obviously, when this legislation is in place, we plan to offer a scooter service. Our approach works best where we can provide a multimodal offering in order that our users can access multiple forms of transport easily through one app. They might choose to cycle or scoot out, perhaps picking up public transport on their way and then perhaps to get a taxi home in the evening, all the while avoiding private vehicle car use.

Our analysis shows that there is no time to lose in developing these sustainable transport solutions. Consumer analysis that we conducted with Bounce Insights last week shows that with current alternative options, only one in ten Irish car owners see it as possible to give up their private vehicle in the next five years. Six in ten Irish car owners use their vehicle every day, and eight in ten use their vehicle for recreational journeys that are the most suitable to making the switch. There is a growing willingness to switch if options are available, with rising fuel costs, environmental concerns and concerns over parking and congestion at the forefront. The time is right to switch.

We welcome the recent decision of the Cabinet to approve a range of amendments which will soon come before the committee for its consideration. With regard to powered personal transporters, PPTs, we particularly commend the Minister on listening to the industry and advocacy groups, such as the Irish Wheelchair Association, IWA, and the NCBI, and proposing to remove the maximum power and maximum speed provisions from the Bill, as contained in section 16. We agree that these provisions are best dealt within the secondary legislation, which will allow the Minister to consider best practices at present, but also maintain the ability to have flexibility as the technology changes. I hope the committee also agrees with this approach. We are available to any questions members may have on it.

In terms of areas for further consideration, Bolt hopes to engage with all parties as the regulations are drafted to ensure that the future shared electric scooter schemes truly prioritise multimodality. We recently undertook some research with the Norwegian Institute of Transport Economics, TØI. We released research which shows that 60% more users will shift from taxis to scooters for short journeys if nudged in that direction. The implications of the findings are significant and reinforce our view that through the provision of a range of services, people easily can be encouraged to make that change. Across Ireland, nearly half of all car trips are less than 4 km, with this figure even higher in cities. Figures show that 40% of Bolt taxi trips taken in Dublin in the month of February were 4 km or less. That is an area where users can be encouraged to transition to taking a more active mode of transport, such as electric scooters and electric bikes. Ultimately, one issue unites all the operators that appear before the committee today, as well as members of the committee, namely, a desire to help transform the transport offerings in Irish cities and do so in a safe and sustainable manner. We might disagree on who can do it best but we are striving towards the same goal. I look forward to answering the members' questions.