Ginger e-scooters can now be hired in Milton Keynes. That’s according to the British operator’s app, which this morning shows live locations of 30 scooters in the town.
We’ve been expecting the move for some time, after Zag reported more than a month ago that Ginger would be joining Lime and Spin. Milton Keynes is now the only trial location in the UK to offer residents the choice of three shared scooter providers, each with a different pricing model.
Ginger’s operating footprint appears to be significantly smaller than its competitors, both in terms of geographic coverage and number of units. There are five hubs where scooters must be parked at the end of a ride (unlike Lime and Spin, which are dockless). Pricing is the same as Ginger’s Tees Valley pilot, at £2/20min.
Spin deployed first in Milton Keynes with around 25 e-scooters; 114 were available at time of writing. There’s no unlock fee; ride cost is 25p/min.
Lime arrived with much more noise and many more scooters a few days later. Today, 50 units were available, although it’s worth noting that scooters are deployed intelligently each morning according to predicted demand for the day. Lime’s standard pricing is £1 to unlock and 20p/min.
Milton Keynes council had envisaged some 300 to 450 e-scooters to be available in the first few weeks, split across all three providers, with provision to scale up if future demand warrants.
Additional reporting by Oliver O’Brien.
