Rental e-scooters are removed from Basildon's streets after years of complaints
E-scooters provided by firm Dott had been available to rent via an app since 2020 as part of the council's efforts to improve sustainable public transport.
While their removal has largely been welcomed by Basildon residents, some have criticised the ending of the trial as 'a knee jerk decision'.
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Decision - Basildon Council voted to end the trial at a meeting earlier this year (Image: Google Maps)
Following a vote to end the trial earlier this year, a spokesperson for Basildon Council has now confirmed that Dott staff visited the town over the weekend to remove the vehicles.
The scheme has attracted criticism since being launched, with many residents and councillors claiming the scooters were often ridden and parked inappropriately.
'The e-scooter trial could have been a fantastic initiative rolled out to support people to be able to reduce their reliance on cars for shorter journeys and to get out more,' said Basildon resident and The Childcare Guide founder, Larissa Hazell.
'However, due to users' use of them, it has failed.
Hazards - The scooters were regularly left dumped around Basildon (Image: Newsquest) 'In the years since the trial was launched, I have only seen a few scooters considerately parked – most of the time they have been dumped on the pavement, causing an obstruction and danger to those using wheelchairs, buggies and those with visual impairment.
'Many users have been riding them dangerously as well, leaving drivers and pedestrians unsure of where the e-scooter rider is going.'
Ms Hazell added that while she understand why some riders may be disappointed by the e-scooters' removal, she believes 'they only have themselves to blame'.
When Basildon Council announced its decision not to continue the rental scheme, the risks posed to both pedestrians and riders were cited as an important factor. The discarding of the scooters on pavements and footpaths also raised concerns, particularly for those with disabilities or additional needs.
Resident Guy Heather said:'I think it's a shame that the council have made such a short-sighted, knee jerk decision to cancel the e-scooter scheme.'
'They should have worked with the scooter operator to improve things rather than lazily chucking the whole thing in the bin. The council would do well to embrace modern, green initiatives like this.'
A spokesperson for Dott said: "As the trial in Basildon has now officially ended, our team has removed the vehicles from the area.
"We remain committed to collaborating with local authorities to promote safe and sustainable transport solutions in the future."
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Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
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They also are threatening to go after the popular WhatsApp platform while rolling out a new 'national' messaging app that's widely expected to be heavily monitored. President Vladimir Putin urged the government to 'stifle' foreign internet services and ordered officials to assemble a list of platforms from 'unfriendly' states that should be restricted. Experts and rights advocates told The Associated Press that the scale and effectiveness of the restrictions are alarming. Authorities seem more adept at it now, compared with previous, largely futile efforts to restrict online activities, and they're edging closer to isolating the internet in Russia. Human Rights Watch researcher Anastasiia Kruope describes Moscow's approach to reining in the internet as 'death by a thousand cuts.' 'Bit by bit, you're trying to come to a point where everything is controlled.' Kremlin efforts to control what Russians do, read or say online dates to 2011-12, when the internet was used to challenge authority. Independent media outlets bloomed, and anti-government demonstrations that were coordinated online erupted after disputed parliamentary elections and Putin's decision to run again for president. Russia began adopting regulations tightening internet controls. Some blocked websites; others required providers to store call records and messages, sharing it with security services if needed, and install equipment allowing authorities to control and cut off traffic. Companies like Google or Facebook were pressured to store user data on Russian servers, to no avail, and plans were announced for a 'sovereign internet' that could be cut off from the rest of the world. Russia's popular Facebook-like social media platform VK, founded by Pavel Durov long before he launched the Telegram messaging app, came under the control of Kremlin-friendly companies. Russia tried to block Telegram between 2018-20 but failed. Prosecutions for social media posts and comments became common, showing that authorities were closely watching the online space. Still, experts had dismissed Kremlin efforts to rein in the internet as futile, arguing Russia was far from building something akin to China's 'Great Firewall,' which Beijing uses to block foreign websites. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government blocked major social media like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as Signal and a few other messaging apps. VPNs also were targeted, making it harder to reach restricted websites. YouTube access was disrupted last summer in what experts called deliberate throttling by authorities. The Kremlin blamed YouTube owner Google for not maintaining its hardware in Russia. The platform has been wildly popular in Russia, both for entertainment and for voices critical of the Kremlin, like the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. 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Time Magazine
a day ago
- Time Magazine
Anas al-Sharif's Last Words Before Israeli Strike Killed Him
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In the absence of independent monitoring on the ground, the ministry is the primary source for casualty data relied upon by humanitarian groups, journalists, and international bodies. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified by TIME.
CNN
3 days ago
- CNN
Icy roads ahead: The creative — and controversial — ways people are warning of immigration raids
It's summer in south Florida, the land of eternal warmth. Driving in Palm Beach County — home to Mar-a-Lago — the windows are up, and the AC is blasting to counter the oppressive heat and humidity outside. A warning pops up on the Waze navigation app: 'Icy road ahead.' There is no actual danger of frozen water — instead, this is one of the ways communities are getting the word out of potential deportation operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, universally known by their acronym, ICE. User-driven services like Waze and Ring camera alerts as well as more traditional social media like Facebook and WhatsApp groups are being used across the United States to warn of government agent activity amid the ongoing crackdown on people living here without documentation. It's a phenomenon that's grown since the second inauguration of President Donald Trump and his administration's focus on mass deportations, first of those already in ICE custody and then arresting hundreds of people every day. 'I heard from a friend that it's pretty icy over by Mission Donuts today,' one user posted on Reddit, in Oceanside, southern California in June. 'Icy conditions 🧊 🥶 SIZE: between 4-7 officers,' someone commented in another forum for Cleveland residents. Chicagoans are used to icy roads in winter, but the sudden number of alerts in spring and summer led to a whole thread explaining what was going on. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS last month found a majority of Americans — 55% — said the president has gone too far when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the US illegally, up 10 points since February. And while the genesis of these reports on social apps may have been people trying to be helpful, both the government and migrants' advocates say there can be issues. 'This sure looks like obstruction of justice,' Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement to CNN. 'Our brave ICE law enforcement is already facing a nearly 1000% increase in assaults against them. If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' Any prosecution, however, would run up against a considerable body of legal precedent saying that it is First Amendment-protected speech to warn people of potential arrest. The concern of Francisco Aguirre, an immigrant applying for asylum in Oregon, was that public apps can have misinformation about ICE operations that can spread anxiety needlessly. 'We make sure that the information up there is truthful,' he said. If it's not, 'We alert our community, 'Hey, stop sharing this post. It's not true. This is not happening.'' The goal is to lower the temperature, avoid unnecessary animosity toward ICE officials, and ensure warnings focus on factual events rather than fueling hysteria. Social media is a key platform as is a radio show that Aguirre hosts from the basement of a church in Portland where he once sheltered from authorities. When he hears of a raid or a detention, he said he heads to the location to broadcast, even though his own status could put him at risk. 'I am afraid,' he said. 'I will lie if I say no, I'm not afraid. But I have no option. People are getting attacked by these people in masks. And there are kids that they woke up asking for their dad, their moms, and their mom's already in custody, you know? So I have to do it.' Aguirre has lived undocumented in the US since the mid-90s, having fled violence in El Salvador. After prior arrests, he and his supporters say he is a reformed character now, a family man and stalwart of the community, who's studying to become a pastor and is already helping lead his Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church's Spanish language services. And he says despite his activism, he is not opposed to all the work of ICE. 'We are OK with the government enforcing the law and detaining those who come and do bad in the country,' he said. 'But that's not what is happening. We are detaining families who sustain this country.' CNN reported in June that internal data showed less than 10% of immigrants taken into ICE custody since October had serious criminal convictions. Aguirre said immigrants would continue to monitor his radio, social media, and community-driven apps, along with other methods he did not detail. In his view, keeping those channels private is important because, he said, 'no matter how hard those authorities try, our community also is strong, powerful, and they will do whatever they can to defend their families. But let's be clear. We're not in favor of violence. We are not a violent community. We are a community of peace and love and unity. We will never use violence.' The reaction of Aguirre and others to the immigration crackdown has been ongoing and evolving for months. In the days after the 2024 presidential election, immigrants, their employers and groups that work with them started gearing up ahead of Trump's second term, believing that his promises of mass deportations would arise. The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigrant Justice Center all said they were preparing funds and lawyers for legal battles. LULAC said it saw platforms like Waze and social media as digital lifelines that could give real-time information. 'Far from being a disruption to law enforcement, this kind of digital organizing is an act of survival — a modern expression of the right to community defense,' said Brenda Bastian, the group's chief content officer, in an email to CNN. She continued: 'This is more than a digital issue. It's about civil rights. And we won't let the digital space become another tool of oppression — we're making sure it remains a tool of resistance.' For its part, Waze said in a statement to CNN: 'Intentionally submitting false reports in Waze is against our policies. People can flag inaccurate reports by downvoting or submitting a support ticket – once they're identified, we'll remove them from the map.'
