An industry coalition has signed an open letter pressing the UK government to urgently legalise e-scooters.
Organised by shared transport charity CoMoUK, the letter to Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and her ministers says providing e-scooters with a legal class is the only solution for “entirely unregulated” private e-scooters.
The open letter, signed by 14 organisations, comes after the latest King’s Speech again found no mention of micromobility legislation.
“We’ve committed to the UK by investing in warehouses, staff, e-scooters and e-bikes,” James Bolton, General Manager for Voi UK, which signed the open letter, told Zag Daily. “We need the new government to now urgently commit to prioritising micromobility, and while we wait for legislation, they should empower local authorities to start up new trials and expand existing schemes.
“The UK is lagging behind the rest of Europe in legalising e-scooters, which is depriving towns and cities of non-polluting congesting-busting transport.”
CoMoUK Chief Executive Richard Dilks said: “As we said at the time of the King’s Speech, it is disappointing that the new government has not addressed the issue of e-scooter legalisation more swiftly.
“We believe that legislation is the only way to give this form of micromobility – which has proved extremely popular both in the English shared e-scooter trial schemes and abroad – a long-term future.”
The coalition calls for the creation of a “low powered zero emission” vehicle class which could also apply to other forms of transport. This would create a standard set of technical specifications and safety standards that belonging vehicles would need to comply to.
“Creating a new class of vehicle to which e-scooters can belong could also pave the way for other modes of transport, such as new types of electric-powered wheelchairs for disabled people and options for sustainable freight,” Richard said.
Expand e-scooter trials
The coalition acknowledges that legislation will take time to pass. While it is in the process of passing, the letter says the government should meanwhile expand shared e-scooter trials to meet local demand, with suppliers able to increase their fleet size and cover broader areas. The letter states ministers should also allow new trial schemes to begin where there is an appetite for it.
The previous Conservative government said it would legalise e-scooters in 2022. However, e-scooter trials have been extended four times since they launched in 2021, with the latest extension in place until May 2026.
UK Head of Clean Cities Campaign Oliver Lord told Zag Daily: “The previous government dithered on this way too long. If this government acts now to support e-scooters then our city leaders will very quickly be able to give people the means to break free from needing to own a car, which is not only a squeeze on their budgets but also polluting their communities.
“E-scooters are part of the quick, scalable and cost effective solutions that cities are deploying across Europe in the race to net zero. It’s frustrating that UK cities are performing so poorly and this mirrors concerns from the Climate Change Committee, who have highlighted slow progress in Westminster at embracing shared mobility as a way to reduce car journeys, such as e-scooters.”
According to CoMoUK’s research, e-scooter trials have been successful with nearly 48 million trips having taken place since they began in July 2020.
The charity also found that one serious safety incident occurs in every 500,000 e-scooter trips, and the open letter describes the requirement for e-scooter trial users to hold a driving licence as “onerous”.
“As and when e-scooters gain permanent legal status through legislation, we see no reason why holding a driving licence should be a requirement,” Richard said.
Amongst those organisations that signed the open letter are Clean Cities Campaign, Tier, Lime, Voi, Campaign for Better Transport and Transport and Environment.
“It is disappointing that after four years of e-scooter ‘trials’ in the UK, we still seem no closer to making them permanent,” James said.
“We’ve seen that e-scooters are making a positive impact on transport in the towns and cities where we operate in the UK. We need legislation so that more communities around the UK can benefit from this safe, affordable and sustainable method of transport and to make the industry financially sustainable in the UK.”
