West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Electrically assisted bikes, trikes, etc. that are legal in the UK
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RickH
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West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Post by RickH »

Interesting report here.

Richard McKiernan, Avon & Somerset Constabulary traffic management unit boss wrote:“After 32 years as a police officer before I came into this role, I was as cynical as I could have got. I must admit my heart sank when I heard about the introduction of the trials.

“I thought ‘that’s it, we’re going to end up with twisted metal and bodies scattered all over the highway and we would be mopping up pieces all over the place’. I am probably the biggest convert out of everybody.

“I have been massively reassured by the attitudes taken by Voi and the other companies and the local authority. This isn’t a money-making venture, this is really a case of getting it right, and that has been hugely beneficial.

“From a policing perspective, it has been a policing non-event, which is the best thing that could have come out of it from my perspective.”
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
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Velocio
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Re: West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Post by Velocio »

Portsmouth City Council is currently trialling the pink Voi e-scooters in and around Portsmouth. At first they were governed at 10mph but after a month have now been increased to 15mph. There seems to be 100s of them now everywhere. Many of the users have no road sense and are riding on pavements, roads and cycleways often with no regard for other users. Nobody is policing them. I've seen them with children on board, 2 or more teenagers on board (see below), teenagers and children driving them alone!

31MAR21 4.36pm Lawrence Road 6P2B.jpg

The machines all have a 4-digit reg no. made up of letters and numbers. You can report any illegal infringement to Voi on their 'support' website. However the reg no. field does not recognise letters only numbers! Their site also informs that if a user is reported 3 times only then will they contact them.

Velocio :)
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Jdsk
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Re: West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Post by Jdsk »

Portsmouth City Council: "Rental e-scooter trial"
https://travel.portsmouth.gov.uk/scheme ... ter-trial/

Experiments are great, but only if they're evaluated. That's best done independently and transparently. I can't see any information on this...

Jonathan
Xbigman
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Re: West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Post by Xbigman »

In Bristol recently (in the WECA area) I saw 4 of these things in use over the course of 2 days Everyone of them riding on the pavement with 2 of them ridden by teenagers clearly too young to have driving licences. The council wants to be seen to be providing alternative transport, so the trial will be a success whether it is or not.


Darren
ClappedOut
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Re: West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Post by ClappedOut »

Other than a craze what benefits do these have over a bicycle, on the poorly maintained roads here, they would fall down pot holes
markjohnobrien
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Re: West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Post by markjohnobrien »

For lazy people who don’t want to cycle.
Raleigh Randonneur 708 (Magura hydraulic brakes); Blue Raleigh Randonneur 708 dynamo; Pearson Compass 631 tourer; Dawes One Down 631 dynamo winter bike;Raleigh Travelogue 708 tourer dynamo; Kona Sutra; Trek 920 disc Sram Force.
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RickH
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Re: West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Post by RickH »

I'm not so sure I would agree about lazy. There was some interesting stuff on a recent Streets Ahead podcast (https://play.acast.com/s/streets-ahead/ ... e-scooters).

The thing that struck me most was that firstly they are popular & secondly that they tended to replace car journeys rather than other sorts of travel. They may not be as good as cycling but, particularly for folk who's perception of cycling is negative, if it gets people out of cars it is a good thing.

Inappropriate use does need to be dealt with though.
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markjohnobrien
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Re: West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Post by markjohnobrien »

RickH wrote: 17 Apr 2021, 10:57am I'm not so sure I would agree about lazy. There was some interesting stuff on a recent Streets Ahead podcast (https://play.acast.com/s/streets-ahead/ ... e-scooters).

The thing that struck me most was that firstly they are popular & secondly that they tended to replace car journeys rather than other sorts of travel. They may not be as good as cycling but, particularly for folk who's perception of cycling is negative, if it gets people out of cars it is a good thing.

Inappropriate use does need to be dealt with though.
I fully agree about replacing car use and reducing congestion, and the wider benefits, but there’s no exercise for the individual on an e-scooter: you get the same benefits on a bike but with added individual exercise - hence, my comment about lazy.
Raleigh Randonneur 708 (Magura hydraulic brakes); Blue Raleigh Randonneur 708 dynamo; Pearson Compass 631 tourer; Dawes One Down 631 dynamo winter bike;Raleigh Travelogue 708 tourer dynamo; Kona Sutra; Trek 920 disc Sram Force.
ClappedOut
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Re: West of England Combined Authority E-scooter trial

Post by ClappedOut »

I always wondered about punctures etc or do they run solid foam tyres?

Playing devils advocate, I have always thought that scooters are a fad and a Non car alternative would need to consider wet and cold weather to avoid seasonal drops in use.

The Dry bike is expensive, I did wonder if TFL or similar would fund rental.

Interesting to see the outcome of trials, rental ebike more interesting to me
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