Addressing the CoMoUK Shared Transport Conference yesterday, Transport Minister Trudy Harrison said she is writing to companies to point out “the legalities of riding scooters”.

Asked if she is concerned with the number of e-scooters that will be gifted this Christmas, she pointed out: “I also think many people provide them as gifts without understanding the current legality.”

Currently in the UK private electric scooters cannot be ridden on public highways, whereas rental e-scooters available in several cities can legally be ridden on the road.

“Instinctively, I want to support a growing market and sales of e-scooters are very much increasing,” she said. “But these (privately owned) vehicles are not always up to the standards that we would require, and they often go much faster than the limit in trial areas of 15.5mph.

“The conundrum I have is enabling e-scooters to become a mode of choice in villages, towns and cities but to be ridden safely and responsibly so as not to cause harm to the rider and other people using the network.”

She added that she “very much wants to build legislation that enables e-scooters to be used in the UK, as they are in other countries” and for their use to be a “positive, safe experience for all”. But sometimes “the illegal use of scooters damages the potential to do that”.

Also at the conference the issue of improving transport connections in rural areas was discussed – and several prominent speakers spoke up for electric bicycles.

University of Leeds professor of transport governance Greg Marsden said investment in off road cycle tracks can improve accessibility for users of electric bikes which, he added, “will deliver a better per mile outcome than in urban areas” where e-bikes are more likely to have to “stop and start at traffic lights”.

Urban Transport Group policy and research advisor Clare Linton added that electric bicycles provide users with “a little bit more distance, comfort – and they are so much fun”. She compared traditional bicycles to e-bikes as being the difference between “going for a run, to a brisk walk” where users of electric cycles can arrive at their destination without feeling so drained.

The Norwegian city of Bergen’s sustainable mobility advisor Lars Ove Kvalbein told the conference: “I strongly believe in e-bikes as well, even in winter with studded tyres.” He added that the fact some car manufacturers are moving into the e-bike sector is a sign that the mode of travel represents “something significant”.

(Photograph: Transport for London)