Harlow set for e-scooter trial despite safety fears
Harlow is set to become the fifth area in Essex to trial e-scooters, despite issues with other schemes in the county.The regulated e-scooters, backed by the Department for Transport, would provide a safe and convenient means of getting around the town, Harlow Council said. It follows similar trials in Colchester, Braintree, Chelmsford and Basildon, which have seen calls for the experiment to be dropped, with Basildon ending its scheme in May over the risk to public safety.Alastair Gunn, portfolio holder for planning at the Conservative-led council, said safety concerns in Harlow had been "central" to its considerations.
"Ultimately what matters is whether this trial gives Harlow residents a better way to get around town and to live their lives," he added."The e-scooters will be easily affordable for most people and even with speed restrictions, they may well be quicker and easier than driving particularly at peak times."E-scooters would be available at sites around Harlow on a hire or subscription service until at least May 2026. Conditions would include making sure users are over 18, hold a provisional or full driving licence, and pass safety training that includes awareness of other highway users.If approved by cabinet, a group made up of Essex County Council, Harlow Council and an e-scooter operator would investigate the trial's potential.
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South Wales Guardian
3 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
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South Wales Guardian
3 hours ago
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Wales Online
10 hours ago
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The stations were recommended by the Burns Commission, chaired by Lord Burns and commissioned by the Welsh Government to explore ways to boost public transport investment in south-east Wales. This followed former First Minister Mark Drakeford's 2017 decision not to proceed with a Labour Senedd manifesto pledge to deliver a £1bn M4 relief road south of Newport. The stations, with a combined construction cost of £320m, first require £15m for detailed design work and £50m to upgrade the relief lines from Bristol Temple Meads to South Wales to allow for passenger services. It will be a number of weeks before an announcement will be made on which rail projects in Wales will be able to commence following the comprehensive spending review settlement. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will make the announcement after PMQs on Wednesday (Image: PA ) Former Welsh Government deputy transport minister Lee Waters said: 'This is a big number for Wales and is more than the Welsh Government calculates it would have had from a fair share of the HS2 project. Article continues below "Civil servants calculated that we lost out £431 in Barnett formula funding by the way the high-speed rail project was categorised by the Treasury. This £445 million makes good on that. "We will have to wait to see what exact schemes the Chancellor is agreeing to but that figure would allow the priority schemes that the Welsh Government and the UK Department of Transport had been working on to go ahead. "We now need to make sure we get a change to how funding works for rail so that this is the beginning of a pipeline of investment into the future.'
