EScooter no

WOKINGHAMis not planning to join in trials of eScooters as the council is not convinced that the eco-friendlymachines will replace cars.

Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, the executive member for highways and transport, made the declaration in answer to a question posed bymember of the public Ed Pearson. He wanted to know if the borough was planning on taking part in the mooted electric scooter trials proposed by the Department of Transport.

“This is an affordable, socially distanced and environmentally-friendly form of transport, and taking part in these trials would seeWokingham leading the way on commitments to fighting climate change,” he said.

But Cllr Jorgensen warned: “There are some safety concerns and issues such as difficulty in indicating – they are very unstable if ridden onehanded – and their small wheels are susceptible to surface defects and debris. In addition, in a town centre setting and on shared paths they may be seen as a nuisance bymany.”

She added: “With regard to the climate change agenda; we have the My Journey Teamwho have completed some excellent work in promoting sustainable travel.

“We are also delivering infrastructure for sustainable travel including our park and ride sites, greenways and we are currently completing the next phase of the A329 cycleway; our new roads also include provision for cycling.

“There is little evidence that scooter journeys will replace car journeys and shifting people from cycling and walking to scooters will therefore likely have negligible impact on our climate emergency objectives.

“However, we will be monitoring the outcome of the trials and feeding into to any consultation process to determine how e-scooters might form part of the transport offer in future.”