Halifax sees return of shared e-bikes, e-scooters after winter pause
The municipality said use of the vehicles had been paused because during the winter snow is plowed onto the surfaces that are used for parking the e-scooters and e-bikes.
#Canada #BirdCanada #ebikes #Escooters
https://globalnews.ca/news/11734421/halifax-escooter-ebike-pilot-program-resumes/

Voi says e-scooters are too “heavily regulated” in London and the firm cannot compete with the “largely unregulated rental e-bikes”. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

Shared micro-mobility rental firm Voi says it may be forced to withdraw its e-scooters from London’s streets as it has become “financially unsustainable” to operate them. The firm might roll out shared e-bikes instead.

In a letter requesting an urgent meeting with mayor Sadiq Khan, the company says e-scooters are too “heavily regulated” in London, and “cannot compete with largely unregulated rental e-bikes” provided by its competitors.

Voi CEO Fredrik Hjelm says in his letter that if the situation does not change, as well as considering removing its 1,700 scooters from London, the firm could alternatively be forced to invest in and deploy 20,000 of its own e-bikes across the capital.

Issues cited by the company include the “insufficient” number of parking spots for the scooters, and the fact that only nine out of London’s 33 local authorities have permitted the scooters to be used in their areas.

Rental e-scooters are currently being provided in towns and cities across the UK as a part of a trial launched by the Department for Transport (DfT), which has been ongoing since 2020. Privately-owned e-scooters remain illegal to use in public spaces.

In London, the trial is being overseen by Transport for London (TfL), with Lime and Voi as the two companies participating. A third operator, Dott, withdrew its scooters in March this year, saying — similarly to Voi — that “the rapid and unregulated rise of e-bikes has left the e-scooter service unable to compete”.

Dott said the failure to regulate them in the same way as e-scooters “made no sense” and was bad for business.

Voi removing its scooters from London would leave Lime as the capital’s sole e-scooter operator.

In his letter to the mayor, Hjelm says e-scooters and e-bikes are “crucial to reduce dependency on cars” and can also play “a major role in improving London’s air quality”.

But he says that of the more than 100 towns and cities Voi operates in across Europe, London is the “lowest performing” due to the uneven playing field on which e-scooters and e-bikes compete with one another.

Unlike e-scooters, e-bikes are not classed as “motor vehicles” under UK road traffic laws, meaning they are not part of any Government trial and enjoy relative freedom as a result.

Hjelm said Voi was struggling to compete against the “rapid rise of e-bikes”, which have “few restrictions or regulations about where they can be ridden or parked”.

The lack of parking spaces is a particular issue for the scooters in London, as Hjelm says the average walking time to reach one in the capital is six minutes.

Research suggests that if potential riders have to walk further than two or three minutes, they are far less likely to bother renting an e-scooter or e-bike and will instead use another mode of transport.

Hjelm also complained that in London, e-scooter speeds have been capped at 12.5mph, when the DfT has set a limit nationally of 15.5mph.

Similarly, the scooters are only able to be used by those 18 or older in London, while the DfT has said it has no issue with 16 or 17-year-olds using them, provided they hold a provisional or full driving licence.

The fact that two thirds of London’s local authorities do not currently allow the scooters to be used has also created a “patchwork operating area” which is “severely limiting where people can ride”, Hjelm added.

He told the mayor: “As things stand, it is financially unsustainable to continue operating in the city.

“If we are not able to work with TfL to improve the situation, we are faced with just two options: 1. We withdraw from the city, effectively signalling the failure and end of the TfL-led e-scooter scheme, and creating an effective monopoly for a single operator. 2. This summer, we invest in and deploy 20,000 e-bikes across London.

“I hope you can use your influence working alongside the Government after [the general election on] July 4 to improve the situation, and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss further and share experiences from Europe.”

A TfL spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The capital’s trial of rental e-scooters has been carefully designed to ensure the high safety and operating standards that London needs, which includes controlled parking in designated bays. This model doesn’t currently apply to dockless e-bikes in the same way, but discussions are ongoing with regards to long-term improvements to e-bike parking.

“Rental e-scooters in London operate as part of the national government trial, which allows boroughs to opt in or out of the scheme, and means that the mayor and TfL have no powers to roll out a pan-London scheme.

“In the absence of Government legislation, we are working with London Councils to better coordinate rental e-scooters, and dockless e-bikes, to ensure they are safer for all road users, and provide the best possible service for customers.”

Hjelm’s letter to the mayor comes after a report last week warned that e-bikes in the capital are themselves in need of a more consistent set of policies across different boroughs and operators.

The report — authored by the consultancy Steer and commissioned by Lime — said more dedicated parking bays should be provided for the bikes, along with a simplified set of rules over where they can be parked outside of those bays.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/06/05/hire-firm-voi-might-ditch-e-scooters-for-e-bikes-in-london/

#GreaterLondonAuthority #mayorOfLondon #microMobility #sharedEBikes #sharedEScooters #tfl #transport #TransportForLondon

Shared e-bikes in a dockless bike hire bay. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

The problem of shared e-bikes cluttering up London’s pavements and blocking pedestrians could be tackled with more parking locations and a consistent set of policies across the city, according to a new report.

The “independent analysis” commissioned by e-bike-for-hire operator Lime and authored by the consultancy Steer says that while London has seen a “boom” in e-bike journeys, “regulation has struggled to keep up”.

It comes as survey data from the pollster Opinium reveals that 49 percent of Londoners aged 18- to 34-years say they use a rental e-bike at least once a week.

The report says that while e-bikes “are a vital part of the effort to improve our air quality”, there is still the potential for an extra 10 million e-bike journeys in London per year, if there was more parking capacity for them.

But the research — which was advised on by the Centre for London think tank — also acknowledges that “allowing bikes to be parked anywhere can lead to street clutter”.

In the last six months, Lime has recorded a 21 percent increase in parking locations with “exceeded vehicle capacity” in central London on weekdays. In response, the business said it has increased its on-street staffing by 40 percent.

Currently, the rules on where the vehicles can be left vary depending on the brand of e-bike being used and the borough being parked in.

The report’s authors recommend that all e-bike operators and councils agree to creating a “mandatory parking zone” which would cover the capital’s central boroughs. In this area, e-bike journeys could only be ended by parking in designated bays.

To enable this system however, it says that at least 50 bays would be needed per square kilometre in the busiest parts of the city centre.

In London’s less central boroughs, the report suggests that a “flexible parking zone” could be created, which would have designated bays in the busiest areas, while still allowing for bikes to be parked “considerately” in any location outside those areas.

Hal Stevenson, Lime’s UK director of policy, said demand for cycling “has skyrocketed in the last year but that this growth “has come with unintended challenges”.

The company is “committed” to following the report’s recommendations, he added.

The Centre for London held a discussion at the launch of the report. They reported a number of outcomes from the discussion:

• E-bikes play a significant role in solving London’s sustainability and air-pollution crisis, as easy, convenient alternatives to car use.  
• Insufficient e-bike parking means 10 million emission free journeys are missed every year.  
• Poorly parked bikes can create dangerous street clutter, making our pavements less navigable and less accessible.  
• Local government needs to simplify parking regulation, so it’s understandable for e-bike providers and users alike.  
• Through improved GPS and AI technology, and end trip photos, providers should follow best practice and mandate safe user parking.  
• Providers should and are supporting local government, with extremely stretched budgets, in implementation of e-bike schemes and parking bays.  
• We need short-term solutions, like shared-use for under-utilised existing cycling infrastructure, and long-term goals, like changes to legislation to re-allocate carriageway space for e-bikes, to solve this problem.  
• Providers, charities, government and communities must work together to co-create policy which encourages sustainable travel while keeping our streets clear. 

Report: Changing Spaces: How to solve London’s shared e-bike parking challenge (pdf).

Centre for London Launch event: Changing Spaces: How to solve London’s shared e-bike parking challenge.

Additional reporting by Linus Rees.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/06/02/solving-londons-shared-e-bike-parking-challenge-report-findings/

#cycling #docklessBikeHire #sharedEBikes #transport