Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1208016
06.02.2020 TRENDSETTING GOTO, the island's first national car sharing solution, is starting to roll out a fleet of 300 electric scooters this week as it focuses on providing innovative solutions for greener, more cost-effec- tive transportation. More than 12,000 customers have made some 200,000 trips and rode over 1.8 million kilometres in GoTo vehi- cles since the service was introduced in November 2018 — far surpassing the company's expectations— and GoTo is expecting similar enthusiasm for its scooters. Chief Marketing Officer Johnny Tom- inaga said: "e launch of our scooter fleet is paramount in our strategy to keep building a multimodal mobility platform and reduce dependency on private cars." Scooters are smaller, lighter and more convenient to avoid most traffic situ- ations and parking constraints, which makes them particularly handy for shorter trips. During the pilot GoTo conducted with its scooters in the past weeks, it had 3,000 scooter rides in 45 days with over 230 rides a day in the last week. A large number of trips were proportionally shorter to what the company is used to with its One-Way and Roundtrip cars, especially in more concentrated urban areas. GoTo's new CEO Gordon Bugeja said: "is reinforces our belief that we'll be serving our customers even better by adding different solutions targeting multiple forms of transportation needs in a single platform, in turn making the customer experience even more seam- less." With an average of 45 new cars hit- ting the island's roads every day, GoTo's goals have always been to offer motor- ists an alternative to owning a car and to think twice before adding to the con- gestion on the roads. "We believe that in the long run shared mobility solutions like ours will continue to grow, as they bring a more sustainable solution for people to move around, while reducing transportation expenses, traffic levels and resource waste since private cars tend to stay parked over 80 per cent of the time.' Bugeja said. Motorists seem more willing to leave their car behind and Tominaga said re- search GoTo conducted showed that over 40 per cent of its customers used the service despite having their own cars. "is is exciting news as we're able to provide more convenient solutions for specific cases, such as going to the air- port, visiting places with limited park- ing options or reducing the need for a second car," he said. Tominaga stressed the importance of safety and urged customers to be aware of, and to follow Maltese traffic rules at all times, including wearing helmets when riding scooters. e prices for GoTo scooters start at 21c per minute for a basic plan; 20c for Standard and Tourist Plans; and 19c for a Savings Plan. A licence for riding two- wheel vehicles of 49CC or more is re- quired to be able to book a scooter ride. GoTo is advising motorists to avoid downloading the free app at the last minute to ensure all driving licence documentation is processed in time for when it is needed. Booking an electric scooter can be done through the same GoTo app as the carsharing service. 300 GoTo electric scooters to hit Maltese roads this week