Callout: Policymakers - Why Circular Mobility Needs Political Courage

Cities across Europe are busy painting bike lanes and publishing climate strategies. Policymakers talk proudly about cycling revolutions, Green Deals, and livable neighbourhoods. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: when it comes to kids’ mobility and circular models, policy is still lost. The layers are misaligned, and the center of the system is breaking.

Policy Gaps That Stall Progress

• Innovation across the ecosystem is quietly being blocked.

• Procurement rules should apply the models that extend product lifecycles.

• Climate and equity policies speak of “inclusive transport,” yet families are left to solve growing mobility needs on their own.
  

The result? Families bear the cost. Innovation stalls. Cities miss their own climate goals.

Why It Matters

This isn’t a side issue. Kids’ mobility is where health, equity, and climate intersect:

• Families spend hundreds of euros on bikes their children quickly outgrow.

• Outgrown bikes sit unused in basements or end up as waste.

• Without policy support, circular mobility businesses can’t scale, retailers stay stuck in outdated ownership models, and manufacturers miss opportunities to innovate.

• And this doesn’t apply only to kids’ mobility — the same challenges affect all circular mobility models.

Circular bike leasing and subscription models are proven to deliver:

·       Public health gains through daily cycling

·       Equity through affordable access to quality bikes

·       Climate benefits through extended product lifecycles and reduced waste

Ignoring this is not neutral. It’s a political choice to keep families paying more, cities wasting more, and emissions rising. Due to rising living costs, flexible mobility services are more important than ever. When the carrying capacity of the system fails, the customer suffers — in this case, a child who misses out on safe and accessible mobility. As long as money continues to flow into disconnected projects, the center of the ecosystem remains weak. And when the center collapses, the whole ecosystem collapses. Today’s happy cyclists in photos may soon find themselves in the ditch, and realizing too late that investment never reached the real hubs keeping the system alive. Reality Check: Cracks Already Visible

The cracks are no longer hidden. In 2024–2025, over 115 bicycle brands exited the U.S. market, closing or halting operations. In Europe, high-profile bankruptcies and insolvencies include VanMoof, Angell Bikes, Advanced Bikes & Cycle Union. Even FUELL, an ambitious e-bike and e-motorcycle startup, collapsed in late 2024. And beyond the headlines, the picture is even starker: bike shops, service providers, and rental operators are disappearing quietly, often shutting down without formal filings. These bankruptcies were triggered by market shocks — oversupply after the COVID boom, rising material and logistics costs, investor pullback, and relentless price pressure. But here’s the deeper issue: policy silence left the sector more fragile. Without frameworks that support circular business models and resilient ecosystems, companies face shocks alone — and too many collapse.

This isn’t a collection of isolated failures. It is a systemic breakdown. For policymakers, the signal is clear: without intervention, circular mobility models will remain fragile, and families, cities, climate goals, and innovators will continue to carry the costs of a failing system.

The Opportunity Policymakers Hold

Circular leasing models are a policy-aligned, economically viable solution — but only if governments stop treating them as fringe experiments.

Policymakers should:

• Extend subsidies to include service-based bike access models

• Adapt procurement frameworks to favor circularity and lifecycle value

• Support clear business pathways for mobility companies

• Integrate kids’ mobility into urban planning as a foundation, not an afterthought

• Actively involve all actors across the ecosystem

• Commit to systemic change, not temporary projects

This isn’t about inventing new policies from scratch. It’s about applying existing climate, health, and equity agendas to the realities of how families actually live, and understanding how systems work in practice. The Call to Action

Continue funding models that no longer serve families — or upgrade contribution to circular mobility systems that reflect the realities of modern cities, where rising living costs make flexible, affordable services more important than ever — and commit to systematic change to avoid future collapses.

The framework exists. The industry is ready. Families are waiting.

Circular mobility isn’t a niche experiment — it’s a scalable, policy-aligned solution. What’s missing is the political courage to make it a priority.

 

Playbooks translate this urgency into actionable pathways — helping Policymakers and Operators turn Circular mobility into a scalable reality.

Jaana Ylikoski Founder, Author of the Mobility Playbooks Series

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