Latest news with #ChristinaMoeGjerde
Spectator
14 hours ago
- Automotive
- Spectator
Britain must learn from France's e-scooter mistake
An e-scooter revolution is coming to Britain whether the country likes it or not. 'The revolution will hurt a little, but it's necessary,' declared the vice-president of one of Europe's leading e-scooter rental companies. Christina Moe Gjerde of Sweden's Voi Technology has said her ambition was to have 50,000 more e-bikes and scooters on the streets of Britain. 'You [Britain] are sitting on a gold mine,' said Moe Gjerde. 'Get it right and there's so much potential.' Private e-scooters are illegal on English roads but rental companies have been operating rolling trial schemes for a number of years in many towns and cities. The government wants more e-scooters and e-bikes and is encouraging local authorities to initiate more pilots. This roll-out would be regulated with restrictions on parking and speed. Moe Gjerde acknowledged that these two issues are a 'problem' and reasons why e-scooters are so divisive.
Times
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Times
‘We're bringing the e-scooter revolution to Britain. It will hurt'
For some, e-bikes and e-scooters are the transport mode of the future, giving users a cheap, convenient and environmentally friendly way to zip around. For others they are a dangerous menace, cluttering pavements and being an eyesore at tourist hotspots. Regardless of who is right, Britain will need to get used to seeing a lot more of them over the next few years, according to a senior boss at the UK's largest rental company. Christina Moe Gjerde, the vice-president for northern Europe at Voi Technology, has promised a UK 'revolution' in the technology — known as micromobility — and is prepared to take the backlash from any sceptics to make it happen. The company, which already operates in more than 100 towns and cities in Europe, including 17 in the UK, wants a minimum of 50,000 extra e-bikes and e-scooters on UK streets within five years, and cities such as Manchester, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Leeds and Brighton are its next targets. 'You [the UK] are sitting on a gold mine,' she said. 'Get it right and there's so much potential. You have other countries and cities in Europe where you want people to start biking or jump on a scooter but they're not. In the UK you have it.' Private e-scooters are illegal on English roads but a limited number of local authorities have been able to offer micromobility rental schemes from companies such as Voi, Lime or Dott on a rolling trial basis. The government's devolution plans are set to give local authorities the power to offer schemes to their residents, with many expected to take this up. It will also give authorities the power to regulate the service by putting in place parking street restrictions or speed limits. Alternatively they could also allow e-bikes but ban e-scooters, as Paris did in 2023. Moe Gjerde, 34, acknowledges that not everyone has been happy with the results so far. 'I understand they are angry. I understand they are frustrated,' she said. 'Parking clutter is a problem. No one wants that. Accidents are a problem. As long as there are accidents we are not happy. So everyone wants the same thing. 'The revolutionary in me says change is going to hurt no matter what, right? We've said for decades we need more people to bike, we need more people to go on public transport, we need to stop driving cars. The revolution will hurt a little, but it's necessary.' Moe Gjerde said that UK politicians should look at Oslo as a example of how a micromobility scheme could operate. This year, politicians in the city doubled their e-scooter fleet to 16,000 but with restrictions such as a ban on riding between 11pm and 5am, a cap on e-scooter numbers within certain zones and greater use of 'geofencing', which bans the scooters from popular pedestrian streets, parks or near schools. Users are required to take photos of how they have parked and can be fined if their scooter is left in a reckless manner. Licences were also given to three micromobility companies to encourage competition on price and safety standards. 'We haven't reached the point where we've created this sort of perfect balance between the benefits and the negative impacts of this technology,' Marit Kristine Vea, Oslo's vice-mayor for transport, said. 'But at least politically we've decided that Oslo is a good test hub to see if we can create this balance.' She said stricter regulation had 'calmed' things after a volatile few years but that not everyone was completely happy. 'This weekend I got a message from a 79-year-old. He said: 'I like your party but because of the e-scooters you destroyed everything.' 'But my advice mostly goes to politicians: pay attention to the sceptics as well and try to design regulations that protect them.' Moe Gjerde is ready for the backlash from the residents of new areas adopting the technology. 'I don't know how many hate groups I've had on Facebook. I've been in a storm. I got an award from a newspaper in Norway for [being] the most talked-about person. 'So I'm ready, but I'd say to the UK: just don't make the same mistakes that others have.'
