E-scooters are outnumbering bikes at times
THE number of people using e-scooters in Bristol is growing so much that there are sometimes more e-scooters being ridden around the city than bicycles, new data has revealed.
And the results of a survey conducted by the University of Bristol into the use of e-scooters on the streets of the city has also revealed that only a tiny fraction of the machines are ridden on the pavement; more than 96 per cent of the time the scooters are ridden on the road.
The research from Bristol University was collected from hi-tech scanners and sensors on just one main road in the city centre in September and October.
The current legal trial of e-scooters, run in Bristol using the Swedish hire company Voi, is due to end later this month, but will be extended into next year with Voi or another hire scheme company. Most of the e-scooters on Bristol’s streets are legally ridden through the Voi scheme, but there are increasing numbers of privately owned e-scooters that are – as the law stands – being ridden illegally on the roads.
The research used artificial intelligence sensors from VivaCity placed at three points on Upper Maudlin Street and Park Row – the main road from the Bearpit, past the BRI to the top of Park Street.
Since August 30, the sensors have logged all the cyclists and e-scooter riders going up and down the road, and on the pavement, and found that, on average, there are 523 e-scooters being ridden along the road each day, and more than 1,054 cyclists – so there are almost exactly half the number of scooter riders as there are cyclists.
But the figures differ depending on day and time. Numbers spike for both during the weekday morning rush hour, and again later in the day for the evening rush hour. But over the course of the two months, the number of e-scooter riders increased significantly since the students returned to university in the second half of September.
The scanners showed that, at the weekend, while the number of cyclists dropped off considerably, the number of e-scooter riders on Saturday and Sunday remained fairly high – and during the afternoon, there were actually more scooter riders on the road than cyclists.
The sensors also found the complaints that both cyclists and e-scooter riders are often on the pavement is something of a myth. Of all the cyclists pedalling up and down Upper Maudlin Street throughout the week, just 5.5 per cent were riding on the pavement at any point along the road.
And e-scooter riders are even less likely to be on the pavement. The sensors spotted just 3.6 per cent of scooter riders on the pavement.
It is the first time such detailed research has been done into how many e-scooter riders are on the roads, at what times of the day and where in the street they ride. Those behind the study hope it will be factored into the consultation being conducted by the Government on whether e-scooters should be legalised more generally, and how.
Dr Nikolai Bode, lead researcher at the University of Bristol, said: “Our aim is to understand general trends in uptake of e-scooters in terms of volumes, peak times and where in the road space e-scooters are used. In addition, we are interested in exploring interactions between e-scooters and other road users, in particular pedestrians.
“From these initial findings, for example, we can see that a low proportion of e-scooters are using the pavement and we can make the assessment that this is linked to most e-scooters using the cycle lane along Park Row eastbound leading towards Bristol city centre,” he added.
Mark Nicholson, CEO of VivaCity, added: “Our sensors have the unique ability to automatically detect e-scooters anonymously and assess their pathways and interactions with road users. As councils and transport authorities continue to assess e-scooter use ahead of potential Government legislation in 2024 to include e-scooters as a vehicle category, this anonymous data can provide crucial insight into infrastructure use, trends and facilitation.
“By working with the University of Bristol, we’re excited to provide previously unknown insight into interactions with other road users, road usage and enable data-led decisions about road space design and regulation,” he added.