Deliverable: Rotterdam expands shared mobility beyond early adopters

As Rotterdam continues to transform its urban mobility landscape, the city is focusing on expanding shared mobility adoption beyond its current user base. While shared transport options—including shared bikes, cargo bikes, and electric mopeds—are already widely available, their use remains concentrated in central areas and among specific groups. Many residents, particularly in suburban neighbourhoods, are less familiar with these options or do not yet consider them a viable alternative to private car ownership.

To address this gap, Rotterdam is running a pilot project within ShareDiMobiHub. The city’s goal extends beyond implementing local pilots—it also contributes to knowledge sharing across partner cities by testing engagement strategies, developing best practices, and refining policy approaches that can be replicated elsewhere.

This new project deliverable, "Shared Mobility Pilot - Beyond Early Adopters," outlines Rotterdam’s efforts to increase shared mobility adoption in neighbourhoods where usage has been low. The document details a communication and nudging strategy designed to raise awareness, encourage participation, and create trial opportunities for residents who are not yet using shared transport services. The pilot specifically focuses on four neighbourhoods—Oud Mathenesse, Witte Dorp, Lage Land, and Oosterflank—where the municipality aims to understand residents' mobility habits, identify barriers to adoption, and tailor interventions to encourage greater use of shared mobility.

The ultimate goal of the pilot is to gain insights into how targeted interventions can influence attitudes, change travel behaviours, and lead to a more inclusive and widespread use of shared transport in Rotterdam. By combining local engagement efforts with data-driven analysis, the city aims to develop scalable strategies that can be applied both within Rotterdam and in other European cities participating in the ShareDiMobiHub project.
 

Shared mobility uptake in Rotterdam has been strongest in areas where multiple transport options are readily available and residents already have experience using alternative mobility services. However, in neighbourhoods where car ownership is more common and shared transport services are less familiar, a targeted and hands-on approach is necessary to build awareness and confidence in these options.

To bridge this gap, Rotterdam’s communication strategy follows three key phases:

Awareness – Informing residents about shared mobility hubs through direct communication, neighbourhood events, and accessible materials.
Consideration – Encouraging engagement by providing personalised guidance, with a Mobility Coach acting as a direct point of contact.
Trialling – Creating opportunities to try shared mobility risk-free, supported by incentives such as a mobility budget that allows residents to test services without financial commitment.

This structured approach ensures that communication efforts are not only informative but also lead to behavioural change. 

Not all neighbourhoods in Rotterdam have the same relationship with shared mobility. The city has focused its efforts on two distinct areas:

1. Oud Mathenesse & Witte Dorp – Where familiarity with shared mobility is low, requiring hands-on engagement and direct interaction through the Mobility Coach.
2. Lage Land & Oosterflank – Areas where digital campaigns complement on-the-ground outreach, reinforcing the benefits of shared transport through a mix of online and offline communication.

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Selected hubs and pilot area OMWD

In both cases, the city is taking an adaptive approach, using feedback from local communities to refine its messaging and outreach efforts.
To ensure consistency and clarity, Rotterdam has developed a set of communication tools, including:

• General information letters introducing shared mobility hubs to residents.
• Street events and live demonstrations to create a direct connection between residents and mobility services.
• Explainer videos and targeted social media campaigns to reach different demographics.

This multi-channel approach ensures that information reaches residents in ways that feel accessible and relevant to them.

Encouraging people to change their mobility habits goes beyond just providing information—it requires nudging them toward action. Rotterdam’s strategy incorporates small, well-placed incentives to lower the psychological and practical barriers to trying shared transport.

The Mobility Coach plays a central role, engaging with hesitant users, answering questions, and providing personalized travel recommendations.
A trial mobility budget allows users to experiment with shared mobility at no initial cost, making it easier to take the first step.
Community-based nudging leverages early adopters to encourage wider uptake—residents who try shared mobility and have a positive experience are encouraged to share their feedback and act as ambassadors.

A critical element of Rotterdam’s approach is continuous monitoring and refinement. The city tracks the success of its communication efforts through:

• Surveys and user feedback to gauge attitudes and experiences.
• Data from mobility providers on actual hub usage and trip patterns.
• Social media and website engagement analytics to measure digital outreach effectiveness.

These insights help the city fine-tune its strategies in real time, ensuring that interventions remain relevant and impactful.
 

Rotterdam’s structured approach to expanding shared mobility use provides key takeaways for any city looking to encourage sustainable transport adoption:

1. Align communication with local needs – A one-size-fits-all approach does not work; targeted messaging is essential.
2. Ensure recognizability and accessibility – Consistent branding, clear signage, and an intuitive user experience make hubs easier to adopt.
3. Lower the barrier to entry – Offering trials and real-life guidance increases confidence among first-time users.
4. Leverage community influence – Early adopters can act as trusted voices to encourage wider adoption.
5. Continuous feedback drives improvement – Data collection and community input ensure that interventions remain relevant and effective.
    

By combining structured outreach with behavioural insights, Rotterdam is making shared mobility an attractive and accessible alternative—not just for early adopters, but for everyone.

Rotterdam’s pilot plan is a key step in making shared transport accessible to a broader audience. By combining localised outreach, hands-on support, and trial incentives, the city is breaking down barriers and encouraging long-term behavioural change.

As part of ShareDiMobiHub, this deliverable proves Rotterdam’s efforts to a wider European strategy to enhance multimodal accessibility and integrate shared mobility hubs into urban transport networks. 

Through community engagement, behavioural nudging, and continuous data-driven improvements, Rotterdam proves how shared mobility can become a practical, widely used alternative—helping to build a more accessible, sustainable, and car-lite urban future.