From next week (Monday, 7 June 2021) electric scooters (e-scooters) will be available to hire in several London boroughs, including some parts of Ealing, as part of a London-wide rental e-scooter pilot delivered by Transport for London (TfL).
The trial will cover areas in Ealing and Acton to begin with and e-scooters will only be able to be ridden in these designated areas.
Participating in the trial is the only way to legally ride an e-scooter on public roads and cycle lanes in the capital – and only in the specific areas. The council will be closely monitoring the trial and should it not meet the needs of residents and businesses, will be able to stop participating in the trial.
The rental e-scooters will be provided by three operators; Dott, Lime and TIER. E-scooters will be required to be parked in designated bays by hirers and operators. To hire an e-scooter, riders must be 18 or over and have a full or provisional driving license.
The maximum speed limit will be capped to 12.5mph, 3mph slower than permitted in trials in the rest of the country. The scooters will automatically stop working if they are driven into areas not included in the trial, such as Northolt or Southall.
It will remain illegal for e-scooters to be ridden on the footway.
Should you witness an e-scooter being ridden on the footway, this can be reported to the operators and to the council. Each e-scooter has a unique ID number which will be labelled clearly on the vehicle. Please provide this where possible as it will help to resolve issues quicker.
To rent an e-scooter download the operators app which will be signposted on the e-scooter. All operators charge £1 to unlock the e-scooter, with charges of 15p – 20p per minute afterwards.
Councillor Deirdre Costigan, deputy leader and member for climate action said: “We are fully committed to tackling the climate crisis, cleaning our air and ensuring the borough we build is sustainable.
“This e-scooter trial is designed to give residents another active travel option when making local journeys around participating areas of the borough. Reducing our use of cars for these shorter trips is vital as we look to improve air quality for residents and reach our goal of becoming carbon neutral as a borough by 2030.
“The roll-out of e-scooters in parts of Ealing is only a trial at this stage and we will be watching closely to make sure it meets the needs of local people and businesses.”
If you are new to e-scooters or it has been a while since you were on the road, you can brush up on your skills and jump on a e-scooter at the following taster demo session being run by Dott:
- Saturday 11 June 2021 at Ealing Common, W5 ETY, from 10:30 – 15:00, Dott will be running 30-minute sessions for you and your friends to ride around and learn the rules of the road. Book your place here.
It will remain illegal to use privately owned e-scooters other than on private land with land-owners’ permission. The police will continue to undertake enforcement activity to deal with the illegal use of privately owned e-scooters.
TfL has carried out a significant programme of research and engagement to understand the views and concerns of stakeholders from diverse communities and feedback from disabled and older people’s organisations have been used in designing the trial.
Visit the TfL website for further details.
See below for a map showing coverage of the e-scooter trial in Ealing. Orange shows where the trial e-scooters are not currently permitted:
For general enquiries, rider, service, or parking complaints or comments that you would like to feedback to the operators, their contact information is as follows:
- Dott – call 0800 048 8993 or email support@ridedott.com
- Lime – call 0800 808 5223 or email support@li.me
- TIER – call 0808 164 9486 (freephone) or email support@tier.app
