MICROMOBILITY
WHAT’S TAKING SO LONG?
Rebecca Morley takes a look at where the UK stands on e-scooters, and how the delay in legislation is impacting business
onvenient, cost-effective, eco-friendly are often cited as key benefits of riding an e-scooter. The vehicles have been available to rent in many cities across the country since trials began in July 2020, and their deadline to end has been extended three times - most recently to May 31, 2024.
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But the use of privately-owned e-scooters remains illegal on public roads, despite them being legal to buy, leaving the micromobility industry uncertain about how they can operate in the UK market, particularly with legislation now also being pushed back.
So what’s taking so long? “There’s currently a big push
to allow people to use electric scooters on public roads and in urban areas,” Tandem Group’s director of digital and marketing Charlie Foulkes and CEO Peter Kimberley told BikeBiz.
“However, concerns have been raised following trials which has resulted in the Government requiring further data to make a final decision. The new Secretary of State for Transport advised the UK legislation of electric scooters would be pushed back to May 2024. “We all supported the initial trials in 2020 and understood the country would need time to recover and ‘normalisation’ after COVID-19 lockdown period, however these continual delays are becoming frustrating. “We believe the delay in making a decision has been
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partially driven by the new Transport Secretary [Mark Harper] being appointed last October, which in turn has also driven a broader decision from the Government to extend the trials. The country is in the depths of a ‘cost of living crisis’ with fuel prices that are unsustainable, privately-owned e-scooters would help ease this pressure.”
Legal purgatory “Truthfully, I’m now at a loss, especially when so much good work has already gone into developing appropriate regulations,” Oscar Morgan, co-founder and CEO of mobility startup Bo, told BikeBiz, on why it’s taking so long for the UK to legalise privately-owned e-scooters.
“Hundreds of thousands of people own these vehicles in
the UK, and the Transport Minister now seems to be leaving them in legal purgatory. It’s unclear what prevents bringing through primary legislation which would put this matter to bed and legalise cost-effective, environmentally beneficial mass transport. “Perhaps they have not experienced it, and as such cannot appreciate the scale of benefit to every voter who uses the roads. It’s something most people are not aware of; even a small percentage shift from cars to e-scooters has a much larger impact in reducing traffic congestion.” That said, Morgan noted how we’re in the middle of a recession and cost of living crisis, “so the excuses for not
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