News
12/01/2021

Amsterdam launches its first eHUB. With many more to come!

The eHUBS project coordinator is implementing a set of shared and electric mobility hubs deployed at a neighborhood-level, named BuurtHubs.

The first hub of shared and electric mobility deployed in the Dutch city is located in the neighborhood Frans Hals and it offers 3 electric cargo-bikes and 12 electric bikes.

It will pave the way for a total of 10 to 15 eHUBS that will be realised in Amsterdam over the course of the eHUBS project: in the coming months, three more eHUBS will be launched in the district of Zuidas and one in Marineterrein.

Amsterdam is currently testing this innovative urban mobility solution, in order to explore its potential to encourage the use of alternatives to the private cars among the citizens, thereby enhancing their quality of life, as well as the sustainability and the accessibility of the city. This experimentation is to be seen in the context of a city that is growing and whose public space is becoming increasingly crowded on roads, parking spaces, footpaths and cycle paths. In addition, Amsterdam has the ambition to be zero emissions by 2025. Amsterdam authorities are therefore constantly looking for innovative mobility solutions that contribute to the smart and clean use of public space and to the reduction of emissions.

The deployment of eHUBS follows in Amsterdam a bottom-up approach, through a participatory process that allows the citizens of the neighborhoods to determine together with the municipality what the BuurtHub will look like and what the mobility offer will be: for example, shared cars, electric cargo bikes, e-bikes, scooters etc.

In the participation process, a majority of the people living in the targeted neighborhoods has demonstrated enthusiasm about the installation of Buurthubs. If the testing period proves that the neighborhood eHUBS are successful, the municipality will bring forward, together with citizens, the plans of having new and permanent eHUBS.

The electric means of transport in the BuurtHubs can be located and booked through some MaaS applications (Hely) or via the apps of the single providers and include: e-bikes (URBEE), e-cargo bikes (Cargoroo), electric cars (Amber, Share Now, We drive solar), LEVs (Biro and GetLEV), and electric mopeds (Felyx, Check).