E-scooter trial could roll out across the city
Bath’s e-scooter trial is set to be rolled out across the city.
Councillor Matt Mccabe, a cabinet assistant for transport, said an extension until March will give Bath and North East Somerset Council robust evidence to show if the trips are replacing car journeys and not just those made on foot or by bike.
The trial, led by the West of England Combined Authority, has been running across the region for the past 12 months. Operator Voi said of 2.5 million journeys made in the past year, an estimated 900,000 had “replaced short car journeys”, saving an estimated 480 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Mr Mccabe said: “So far the focus [in Bath] has been on the city centre. That’s concentrated a lot of the problems in the central area.
“For long-term hirers, the evidence is they are replacing car journeys. For the hop-on, hop-off users, there’s a question over whether they are replacing car journeys.
“The request is for a city-wide trial. It may take some time to set that up. The other question is whether government is going to legalise e-scooters. It looks like they probably are.”
Until new legislation comes in, hiring an e-scooter from Voi is the only way to ride one legally in the West of England region.
The vehicles have prompted concerns from disability campaigners.
Speaking in August, Clive Wood from the charity Guide Dogs said e-scooters left on pavements created an unnecessary trip hazard, particularly for those with visual impairments. He welcomed calls in Bristol to create designated parking bays.
Mr Mccabe said: “We will be feeding back our findings. They are being left over pavements, ridden on pavements, there’s dual riding.
“The message to people is to keep reporting incidents so we have robust evidence. These things can be a nuisance. We need to make sure the Department for Transport take that seriously and mitigate for that.”
The Voi app tells users they should never ride on the pavements, roads where the speed limit is more than 30mph, or while under the influence of drink or drugs. Its e-scooters should never be parked blocking cars, access ramps or public footpaths, the app says.
In October a Bristol man was disqualified from driving and ordered to pay a fine and costs after he was found to be over the legal alcohol limit while riding a Voi e-scooter.
While Voi’s are the most visible, most issues with e-scooters relate to those outside the trial. A Freedom of Information request published by Avon and Somerset Police showed that of 850 incident logs that mentioned e-scooters between December 2020 and June this year, just 87 were related to the Voi trial.
Last month police in Bristol seized eight privately owned e-scooters and reported the owners for driving offences.
Giving his personal view, Mr Mccabe was sceptical about the Voi trial and said new legislation should treat e-scooters like motorbikes meaning users would need a licence and insurance.
Voi UK general manager Jack Samler said: “We are delighted to have been given more time to build on our success so far. We will continue to listen to users, the local community, and key stakeholders - such as disability and visually-impaired groups to ensure micromobility can work for everyone.”