Escooter trial to start

[thirdcrank]

https://www.pacts.org.uk/wp-content/upl ... rt-5.0.pdf

THE SAFETY OF PRIVATE E-SCOOTERS IN THE UK Interim Report.

Just found it, not yet read it, I presume "private" means it doesn't cover the official trials

[Jdsk]

Thanks for posting that.

Just found it, not yet read it, I presume "private" means it doesn't cover the official trials

I think so.

Jonathan

[simonineaston]

It may occur to riders of private e-scooters who come a cropper not to mention their illicit ride when asked about the circumstances of their accident - assuming they can talk / think, that is... Another factor is that rental scooters are not supposed to be used on footpaths ie they're more vunerable to motorised traffic due to having to stay on roads, but riders of private e-scooters can & do go wherever they like! (Many of the powerful 'privateers' have fat, gnarly tyres, and have cross-country - or at least, cross-grass - capability.)

[Jdsk]

"E-scooters to be banned from TfL network over battery fire risk":
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... -fire-risk

Jonathan

PS:
"The ban does not include mobility scooters or foldable e-bikes, which TfL said were generally subject to better manufacturing standards and less of a fire risk."

[Grandad]

[url][https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-englan ... 747082/url]

Police making a point!

[Jdsk]

E-scooter trials are to be prolonged until late 2022 as the government weighs up legalisation, with use of public rental vehicles dwarfed by that of an estimated half million illegal e-scooters in Britain.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... -ambitions

Jonathan

[pwa]

As I predicted at the start of the trial, the genie is out of the lamp and cannot be put back in. Illegal e-scooter use is happening unchallenged on streets everywhere and unless the actual sales of the scooters is banned, that is how it will stay. Unless a ban on sales is being considered, there is nothing worth discussing. The police don't have the time or resources to go chasing after folk getting up to mischief on scooters. It isn't fair to unleash this on them and then expect them to tidy up the mess.

[Bmblbzzz]

The sensible thing to do would be to legalize e-scooter sales on the same terms as rentals: 15mph and 400W (I think it's 400W?). The linked article highlights other issues with some/many private scooters, such as stability and braking. Obviously these should also be dealt with by legalization, just as standards are applied to bicycles (with and without electric assistance) and indeed motor vehicles.

A separate point from that article is that it seems most e-scooter journeys are replacing journeys otherwise made on foot, bus or cycled. What this suggests to me is that if we want to move journeys from cars to e-scooters – or to cycling and walking – we need two things: better conditions for walking and slow, small vehicles; and disincentives to driving (such as counteracting the externalization of costs, and probably widespread modal filtering).

[Stevek76]

That article is laced with bias and very poor in my view. 'micro mobility evangelists'? Really? Not to mention the uncredited briefing by 'sources'. Smacks of vested interests.

Think initial West of England info was predominantly a shift from walk trips with a smattering from other modes, including some car trips. Unlikely to grab too many from cycling in my view, why'd existing cyclists pay £1 + 14p/min for something that's largely worse?

Don't think this is surprising, if you have multiple lower utility options and one very high utility option then small changes or new modes introduced to the lower utility options are largely going to steal trips off each other. The politically inconvenient truth is that sticks are needed to address the high utility option (that is only high as it is because it's allowed to externalise so much cost onto everyone else) and nothing else will work.

[simonineaston]

Biggest disadvantge of rental scooters from my pov, here in Bristol, is the pesky things littered everywhere at journey's end. They're supposed to be grouped tidily in specific areas however in practice, they crop up all over the place, leaning against walls, lying on the gound, sometimes sticking out into the walkway, sometimes blocking the way entirely, becoming a challenge for wheelchair users and visually impaired. They seem to be a target for vandals too, ending up heaved over walls into the river Frome or the hard shoulder of the M32. The bloomin' things seem to be everywhere!

[mjr]

And Bristol's vandal problem is the fault of the scooters, is it? If not scooters, they'd just throw other things. At least these are gps tracked and can be recovered.

[thirdcrank]

If somebody can clarify for me, how are these scooter hires paid for? I would have jumped to the obviously mistaken conclusion that payment was be card and the charges would mount up until the hire ended with the docking of the scooter.

[Bmblbzzz]

And Bristol's vandal problem is the fault of the scooters, is it? If not scooters, they'd just throw other things. At least these are gps tracked and can be recovered.

The problem is not that the scooters are being vandalised or used in acts of vandalism, though I expect this does happen too, but the way in which they're parked. They're supposed to be left in specified spots where they'll cause little disruption to pedestrians – so not just "the corner of X and Y Street" but within a certain defined area there – but in practice they are left across the whole width of the pavement. The company (Voi in Bristol, perhaps Lime, Zwing and the others have stricter policies) does not enforce the parking regulations on hirers. It would be better, of course, if they could be parked in docks placed on the road (and the same might also apply to bike stands) but we all know car parking is sacred so that's not going to happen.

[simonineaston]

If somebody can clarify for me, how are these scooter hires paid for?

Users register, when bank card and driving licence details are required. They then download an app, which is used to find, unlock and use a scooter that's part of the scheme. At journey's end the scooter is 'locked' and the charge for the journey is calculated and deducted from the user's registered bank details. I'm not aware whether charges are made in real time or periodically... some users are entitled to a discount eg NHS employees, however, some report that they are charged nevertheless and others report that they've had issues with journey duration ie being charged for a calculated journey length that doesn't match the physical journey length.

[thirdcrank]

Thanks for the explanation.

I don't think it needs much research to establish that there's a part of the population who will use something then dump it - be it a fag end, CO2 cartridge, chip wrapper, supermarket trolley or a banger. In the absence of firm enforcement some drivers will leave their own vehicles anywhere. It's hardly a surprise if scooters are treated in the same way.