Further cities and regions looking to introduce e-scooter services in the coming months include Nottingham, the West Midlands and the West of England. But the use of privately owned electric scooters on public roads remains an offence.

News that trials of rental e-scooters are set to go ahead was welcomed by the AA’s campaigns manager Lorna Lee, who told a Transport Select Committee evidence session:

“Potentially, they could play a positive role in a future transport mix”, with benefits for easing congestion and improving the environment. “But it will all depend on how they are regulated and how they are managed,” she added.

Lorna also said that around half of AA members believed that using e-scooters could reduce congestion in towns and cities, but a fifth said they would consider buying one to use as an alternative to walking and cycling.

CIHT welcomes trials of e-scooters, but says they must be safe to use and that the roads they are driven on must be in good condition. It calls for greater efforts to improve local highways and says it would be a positive outcome if micro mobility vehicles can help make people switch from car trips.

E-scooter operator Bird, which has run a service in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London since 2018, said that shortly “the whole of the UK will be able to benefit from having a greener and more convenient alternative to cars”.

Patrick Studener from the firm added that e-scooters “will reduce congestion and air pollution and make our towns and cities more liveable for everyone”.

But the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety does not welcome the use of e-scooters. In a consultation submission to the Government ahead of the forthcoming trials, it predicted that very few car trips will transfer to e-scooters, they will reduce active travel and represent a hazard to pedestrians.

‘If the Government is determined to legalise e-scooters, we believe a proper and open examination of the evidence should be undertaken first’ it said.

To read more about the forthcoming trials of rental e-scooters in the UK, see Transportation Professional’s July/August edition, published next week.

(Photograph: Joaquin Corbalan P - Shutterstock)