London's e-scooter rental trial
Electric scooters are set to become a legal part of London's transport network under plans for an official rental trial beginning next spring. Transport for London and the capital's boroughs will select up to three operators, with strict rules covering speed, parking and where the scooters can be ridden. But anyone who already owns a private e-scooter will still be prohibited from riding it legally on public roads.
London's streets could look very different in 2021.
Alongside buses, black cabs, private hire vehicles, bicycles and cars, another form of transport is preparing to join the capital's increasingly crowded roads: the electric scooter.
Transport for London and London Councils have announced plans for a year-long trial of rental e-scooters, with the first vehicles expected to become available from spring 2021.
The scheme will initially operate only in participating London boroughs and will begin cautiously, allowing authorities to examine whether electric scooters can become a safe and useful addition to London's transport system.
TfL has launched a competition to select companies to provide the rental scooters.
Up to three operators will be chosen.
Rather than allowing numerous companies to place scooters throughout London independently, TfL and participating boroughs intend to create common operating and safety standards.
International e-scooter companies have been waiting for the opportunity to enter London, potentially one of the world's largest markets for this emerging form of urban transport.
Companies including Lime, Bird, TIER and Voi have already established operations or expressed ambitions in cities around the world.
The successful London operators will have to demonstrate that they can satisfy the capital's safety and operational requirements.
Anyone imagining thousands of scooters appearing throughout London overnight may be disappointed.
The initial trial is expected to be deliberately limited.
Participating boroughs could initially have approximately 60 to 150 rental scooters each.
That would allow TfL and local councils to study how riders use them before deciding whether larger fleets should be permitted.
The intention is to learn from the trial rather than immediately treat e-scooters as a permanent part of London's transport network.
One of the most important rules concerns where scooters can be used.
Rental e-scooters participating in the official trial will be permitted on roads and cycle lanes.
They will not be allowed on pavements.
That distinction is particularly important in London, where crowded footways are already shared by pedestrians, people with pushchairs and those with mobility or visual impairments.
Authorities want to avoid creating another hazard for pedestrians.
The pavement remains for walking.
The scooters will also have speed restrictions.
National trial rules allow e-scooters to operate at up to around 15.5mph, but London authorities intend to have the ability to impose much lower speeds in sensitive locations.
Special slow zones could restrict rental scooters to approximately 8mph.
Modern rental scooters use GPS technology, making it possible for operators to change the permitted speed depending on the scooter's location.
That means a scooter could automatically slow down when entering a designated area.
One of the biggest criticisms of shared scooter schemes in other cities has been parking.
Pictures of scooters abandoned across pavements have become familiar in some European and American cities.
London wants to avoid repeating that problem.
Participating boroughs will be able to regulate where rental scooters can be parked.
Designated parking locations could be established, while operators will be expected to demonstrate how they intend to prevent scooters obstructing pavements.
This is particularly important for wheelchair users and visually impaired pedestrians, for whom a scooter lying across a footway can be much more than an inconvenience.
TfL says safety will be central to the trial.
The selected companies will need to meet standards covering the vehicles themselves, maintenance, rider behaviour and parking.
Authorities will also examine the impact on pedestrians and other road users.
London presents a particularly demanding environment for e-scooters.
The capital contains busy junctions, buses, bicycles, motorcycles, taxis, private hire vehicles, delivery vans and pedestrians — often all competing for limited road space.
Introducing another vehicle category requires careful management.
This is perhaps the most important point for anyone considering buying an electric scooter.
The London trial does not legalise privately owned e-scooters on public roads.
Private scooters are already widely visible around London, but their use on public roads, cycle lanes and pavements remains unlawful.
The legal change applies specifically to approved rental scooters operating within government-backed trials.
Someone purchasing an e-scooter privately will therefore not gain the same right to ride it around London simply because the official rental trial begins.
Private scooters can generally only be used legally on private land with the landowner's permission.
The distinction may initially seem strange.
The reason is that official rental trials allow authorities to impose specific requirements.
Approved rental vehicles can be identified.
Their speed can be controlled.
Operators can provide insurance arrangements.
The scooters can be maintained to defined standards.
Their location can be monitored.
And rules can be enforced through the rental operator.
A privately purchased scooter does not necessarily provide any of those controls.
The Government is therefore using rental trials to gather evidence before making longer-term decisions about e-scooter legislation.
London isn't the first place in Britain to experiment with electric scooters.
The Department for Transport changed regulations during summer 2020 to allow local authorities to conduct rental trials.
Schemes have subsequently begun or been planned in several areas.
The results so far have not been universally straightforward.
Some trials have experienced concerns about pavement riding and inappropriate use.
That is one reason London authorities say they intend to proceed cautiously.
The capital can study what has happened elsewhere rather than beginning completely from scratch.
The timing is closely connected to Covid-19.
London's transport patterns have changed dramatically during 2020.
Passenger numbers on public transport collapsed during the first lockdown.
More people began walking and cycling.
But authorities have also been concerned about increasing car use.
As London gradually recovers, TfL wants to avoid what it describes as a car-led recovery in which people who previously travelled by public transport switch permanently to private vehicles.
Road congestion has already been moving back towards pre-pandemic levels even while public transport use remains significantly reduced.
E-scooters could provide another alternative for some shorter journeys.
Electric scooters are unlikely to replace every type of transport.
Their real value may be in relatively short journeys.
Transport planners sometimes describe this as the first-mile or last-mile problem.
A train or Underground service may take a passenger most of the way to their destination.
But the station could still be a mile away from their home or workplace.
Walking takes time.
A bus may require waiting.
Taking a taxi for such a short distance may not always be economical.
A rental scooter could potentially fill that gap.
The passenger leaves the station, rents a scooter and completes the final part of the journey.
This is one of the main questions the trial needs to answer.
If scooters replace short car journeys, they could potentially help reduce traffic.
But if they mainly replace walking, cycling or public transport journeys, the environmental benefit becomes less clear.
For example, someone who previously walked 15 minutes but instead takes a scooter has not removed a car from the road.
Someone who previously drove two miles but switches to a scooter has.
Understanding which journeys are actually being replaced will therefore be important when authorities assess whether the experiment has worked.
The e-scooter announcement comes during a period of enormous change on London's roads.
Temporary and permanent cycle infrastructure has expanded.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods have been introduced in some areas.
Road layouts have changed.
More space has been allocated to walking and cycling.
All of these measures are part of a broader debate about how limited road space should be shared.
Electric scooters add another dimension to that debate because they will use much of the same road space as bicycles.
For London's professional drivers, the arrival of e-scooters means another type of vulnerable road user to watch for.
Taxi and private hire drivers already operate alongside cyclists and motorcyclists throughout the capital.
Scooter riders will present some different challenges.
Their vehicles are small.
They can accelerate quickly.
Their road position may be less predictable than that of experienced cyclists.
Some users may also have very little experience riding in London traffic.
Professional drivers will therefore need to be particularly alert at junctions and when turning across cycle lanes.
Electric scooters can easily disappear into a vehicle's blind spot.
That creates a potential risk when cars, vans, taxis or private hire vehicles turn left.
Drivers should already check carefully for cyclists and motorcyclists.
E-scooters will make those observations even more important.
Likewise, scooter riders will need to understand that being able to see a vehicle does not necessarily mean its driver can see them.
The success of the trial will depend partly on how well completely different road users learn to share the same space.
Passengers also have a role to play.
Opening a vehicle door into the path of a cyclist is dangerous.
The same will apply to e-scooter riders.
Taxi and private hire passengers should always check before opening doors, particularly when getting out beside a cycle lane.
A useful technique is sometimes known as the Dutch Reach.
Opening the door with the hand furthest from it naturally turns the person's upper body towards the road, making it easier to look behind before opening.
As London's streets accommodate more bicycles and scooters, habits like this become increasingly valuable.
Electric scooters may compete with cars for certain very short journeys.
But the two forms of transport serve very different requirements.
A scooter is ideal for one person travelling a short distance with little or no luggage.
A private hire vehicle can transport several passengers.
It provides protection from rain and cold.
It can carry suitcases.
It can transport children and older passengers.
And it can complete journeys stretching far beyond the practical range of an e-scooter.
The new technology therefore seems more likely to become another layer of London's transport system than a replacement for existing services.
Airport travel provides a particularly clear example.
Few passengers landing at Heathrow after a long-haul flight with two suitcases are likely to continue their journey to Central London on an electric scooter.
The distances are too great.
The luggage is impractical.
And airport roads aren't designed around that type of journey.
The same applies to Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.
For airport passengers, rail, coach, taxi and private hire will continue to perform the heavy lifting.
But scooters could potentially play a role after the main journey has finished.
Imagine a passenger arriving in Central London by train from an airport.
Their hotel is another mile from the station.
Today they might walk, take the Underground again, use a bus or book a vehicle.
In the future, a rental e-scooter could become another option for that final mile — provided the passenger has little luggage and the route falls within a participating area.
That is the kind of journey where scooters may make the most sense.
London's tourism industry could eventually become another important market.
Rental bikes are already familiar to visitors.
E-scooters could provide another way of making short journeys between attractions.
But tourists also present a potential safety challenge.
Someone unfamiliar with British roads may already find London traffic intimidating.
Adding an unfamiliar vehicle could increase the difficulty.
Operators and authorities will therefore need clear instructions explaining where scooters can be ridden and how they should interact with other traffic.
There is another obstacle that no technology company can control.
British weather.
A scooter may be appealing on a warm, dry morning.
It may look considerably less attractive on a cold November evening in heavy rain.
Unlike a car, bus or train, riders are completely exposed.
Wet road surfaces may also affect braking and stability.
That means scooter demand is likely to vary considerably depending on the season and weather.
London doesn't yet know whether electric scooters will become a permanent part of its streets.
That is precisely why the trial is being introduced.
Authorities need evidence.
How many people use them?
What journeys do they replace?
Do they reduce car use?
Where do riders park them?
How many collisions occur?
Do pedestrians feel less safe?
Can operators keep pavements clear?
Do riders follow the rules?
And can scooters coexist safely with buses, taxis, private hire vehicles and bicycles?
The answers will help determine what happens after the trial.
London has always evolved alongside new forms of transport.
Horse-drawn cabs gave way to motor taxis.
Underground railways transformed commuting.
Buses changed dramatically.
Private hire booking moved from telephone dispatch offices to smartphones.
Electric vehicles are beginning to replace petrol and diesel cars.
Now another transport experiment is preparing to begin.
The electric scooter is tiny compared with a bus or black cab.
But if thousands eventually appear across London, their impact on the way people make short journeys could be substantial.
For the moment, however, Londoners shouldn't rush out and buy one expecting the law to have changed.
The plan announced today is for controlled rental trials — not the general legalisation of private e-scooters.
From spring 2021, London will begin finding out whether these small electric vehicles really have a place on the capital's streets.
London's transport network is continually changing, and electric scooters could eventually provide another option for short journeys around the capital.
But different forms of transport solve different problems.
E-scooters are primarily designed for short individual journeys, while passengers travelling with suitcases, families or groups require very different transport.
London Airport Transfer provides pre-booked private hire journeys to and from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City Airport, as well as journeys between airports and destinations throughout London.
Airport transfers are particularly different from the type of short urban journeys e-scooters are intended to serve.
Passengers may have several large suitcases.
Flights can arrive late at night or early in the morning.
Families may travel together.
And the journey between an airport and Central London can cover many miles.
For those journeys, door-to-door road transport will continue to play an important role.
But once passengers reach London and put their luggage down, the capital may soon offer them another way to explore.
Next spring, that choice could include an electric scooter.
Written by London Airport Transfer for passengers travelling to and from London airports.