Birmingham e-scooter scheme 'needs clarity' on legislation

The future use of electric scooters requires "clarity" on legislation, a firm which supplied the vehicles in Birmingham has said.

Jack Samler, general manager at Voi, said operators required certainty on the "future of the industry" in the UK.

It comes after the contract between the company and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) ended on March 1.

TfWM said the trial had been paused amid delays and a lack of clarity around national e-scooter legislation.

Andy Street, mayor for the West Midlands, had previously said it was "vital" authorities had evaluated and learnt lessons, before moving forward with future schemes.

The vehicles had been trialled across major cities in the UK since 2020, with Birmingham having a fleet of around 2,000 and users making an average of 30,000 rides a week.

Mr Samler said operators required more "long-term assurance" and "clarity on legislation and long-term regulation."

He said the Voi trial had involved heavy investment into hardware, warehouses and large teams of local people who had been involved.

It comes as residents in Paris also recently voted to ban electric scooters from the streets.

"In Birmingham specifically, when we ended our operations, we had over 10,000 users that used Voi scooters on a weekly basis," Mr Samler explained.

"They're now having to find a new way to take their commutes," he said, adding that more people were choosing to go by car now.

Mr Samler said over a quarter of carbon emissions in the UK were from transport and a change to e-scooters in cities would be one route towards the country's net zero goals.

Critics of e-scooter trials had argued that they were dangerous, with some users riding without helmets and on pavements and abandoning vehicles.

A 12-year-old boy died when an e-scooter he was riding on crashed with a bus in the city on 6 December.

Mr Samler said the company had seen accident rates half in the last 18 months and that it had invested into additional safety measures for users.

"To be clear, Voi takes safety extremely seriously and as a company it's our number one priority," he added.

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