Latest news with #Dott
Times
4 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.'
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Automotive
- The Herald Scotland
Can the city that failed at Just Eat bikes now go dockless?
Unlike the previous scheme, the new one will be 'dockless' - in which bikes can be located, hired and unlocked using a smartphone app and don't require a docking station - and it could be arriving very soon. An initial 'diluted version' of the Edinburgh scheme is hoped to roll out before the Edinburgh Festival, with, said a council officer, 100-200 dockless cycles across the city centre by August. If successful it could expand to between 600 and 800. The previous troubled project, introduced in 2018, lasted only three years and was beleaguered by problems, especially vandalism and theft, which made its self-financing model unsustainable for Serco, its provider. By Spring 2019, the initial 500-strong fleet of cycles, delivered by Serco and sponsored by Just Eat, had been reduced to about 300, with many bikes out of service for repair. In its second year, around one in four of the scheme's 550 bikes had to be repaired each week because of vandalism, wear and tear, and weather-related issues. Docking stations were also damaged. It is also not the only city to have tried and failed on a bike share scheme. Manchester, for instance, with much fanfare introduced its Mobikes in 2017, but within a year, the Chinese dockless bike firm withdrew from the city following their constant vandalism, and hundreds of bikes each month ending up at the bottom of the Manchester Ship Canal and other waterways. Since then the city has tried again, with a docked system, their Bee bikes. According to Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, transport convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, a keen advocate for the new scheme, since the city's initial bike experiment, the technology, including GPS, gyroscopes and software, 'has advanced significantly'. 'The companies,' he observed, 'know where all their bikes are. They know what state the battery is in. They know whether it's where it should be, whether it's not where it should be; whether it's upside down, lying on its side. It's the responsibility of them as a service provider to ensure that this is a success. The management and the maintenance of the service will be provided by that third party. And ultimately they don't want it to fail.' The new technology, he explained, also means the service 'can flex quite quickly' because they will have access to a level of data that the previous service did not have. "If," he said, "there are areas of the town where either we as a local authority, or they as a provider, are uncomfortable with then that can be discussed and managed. We can also control not only the locations of where the bikes can be picked up and dropped off, but the speed at which the bikes can be used – and we can control that in different parts of the town." Cllr Stephen Jenkinson tries out a Dott e-bike (Image: City of Edinburgh Council) The two-year trial scheme is set to be entirely electric (around a third of Just Eat bikes were electric and all used metal docking stations). Cllr Jenkinson explained the decision to go all electric: 'Edinburgh isn't known for being a particularly flat city. It's not the easiest city to get around under your own steam. With this, we're not looking to convert people who are already cycling to cycle more. What we're hoping to do is convince people who don't necessarily use cycling as their main mode of transport to consider it. "To allow that to happen you've got to make it as easy as possible. So it has got to be affordable and it has got to be relatively easier and it's certainly easier cycling on an e-bike up the mound than it would be out of the saddle.' READ MORE: Already, the City of Edinburgh Council has had a 'show and tell', in which two companies, Dott, Europe's largest shared e-mobility provider, and Californian company Lime, talked through their offering. Councillor Jenkinson described those sessions as 'well attended by both councillors across all parties and officers as well and those companies got a pretty hard time - I don't think they were expecting the level of scrutiny that they got' Ultimately, other companies will be considered through an open procurement process. Since there is no funding within the council's budget to deliver a cycle scheme for Edinburgh, what is being investigated is whether it's possible to deliver a scheme at no cost to the council, where the risk is absorbed by the providers. Dockless bike schemes do have their problems and they can be seen in the experiences of other cities in the UK. For instance, in London a significant proportion are still 'hacked' (essentially stolen/used for free). At one point the rate was believed to be 5% of trips, but Lime, last year, issued an official company statement saying: 'Antisocial behaviour is rare and hacked trips now account for 1% of total trips.' The schemes have also suffered from complaints about the way the bikes are dumped, left on pavements. Last year, for instance, 'around 100 complaints' had been made about a dockless bike trial in Haringey, delivered by both Lime and British provider Forest, mostly about dockless bikes being left strewn across pavements. Lime bikes strewn on a pavement in Kingsbury (Image: Bremt LB) Haringey "creative action" campaigner, Martin Ball, told me: 'The dockless bike scheme has created accessibility problems across Haringey, as it has London-wide. There are bottleneck areas where mass ending of journeys leaves a large number of bikes in one area. Often making them difficult for people to get through.' 'While this might be an inconvenience for many; for those with sight loss or a physical disability it is a significant barrier and a hazard. Narrow pavements have even less space. Large bulky bikes are often on the ground on their side and this is dangerous especially in poor lighting.' 'Another consequence of the Tottenham stadium being used for large events as well as football matches is that spectators travel and leave the bike wherever is convenient for them but a frequent nuisance for residents. One lone bike doesn't seem a problem, but discarded in the streets around the stadium, they often block pathways as on pavement parking is legal on many Tottenham roads.' A Dott bike carelessly dumped in Colchester (Image: Finley Greenleaf, Colchester Sixth Form College) There are also concerns about the road behaviour of riders, as well as safety, and recent articles described how orthopaedic surgeons were having to treat 'Lime bike leg', patients with legs broken after being pinned under the heavy bikes. But it's also worth acknowledging that for all the complaints, the experiment with dockless bikes in London is also seen as a success in the sense that it has resulted in more people cycling in London. A recent article in the Economist, titled 'London has become a cycling city', credited the scheme with being an important element in a significant uptick in cycling in the city, which according to a traffic survey, was up by 57%. 'What changed?' it said. 'Most riders still use personal bikes, which account for 60% of the increase since 2022 (helped by all those cycle lanes). But in the past two years, the use of rental-electric bikes has increased four-fold. So ubiquitous is a whizzy white-and-green variety that the fruit they are named after has become a verb: 'Shall we Lime?' On cycling news platform writer George Hill described them as 'brilliant'. He wrote: 'The other day I was at a friend's birthday party in Rotherhithe, and I was staying near Tower Bridge. That would have cost me £20 and 20 minutes in a taxi each way, and it would have taken me about 25 minutes by tube; but on a Lime bike, I could do it in 12 minutes and it cost me about three quid.' They have also been hugely popular with the young. Half of all Londoners between 18-34 use them every single week. Meanwhile, Glasgow's nextbike scheme, which uses a docking system, is now over a decade old, and in those years since the folding of Edinburgh's Just Eat bikes, has been quietly running with little drama - though it is not without its problems. Residents talk of the need for more docking bays, more bikes and in better repair. The chief executive of the City of Edinburgh Council, Paul Lawrence, said: 'I was in other cities over the last couple of weeks and some of the evidence I saw was really, really good and some of it you looked at it and went 'I'm not sure about that'. It's kind of the nature of the beast.' Reflecting on the previous scheme, he said, 'Were there Just Eat bikes in the Water of Leith? Yes, there were. Was it managed in the way we wanted it to be? Most of the time but not completely. The important thing on our side of the fence is to make sure to the operator that our criteria and our expectations are crystal clear, and that's what we will do and see how it goes this time around.' Council leader, Jane Meagher, said: 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If we're going to be serious about getting people out of their cars then we need to offer a whole range of options for folk, including for visitors of course. 'My thoughts are suck it and see. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.' Such a scheme, observed Jenkinson, is not about getting people who already cycle to cycle more 'it's about convincing people who don't actually cycle at all, or not very often, that it's a viable option'. People may, it is conceived, might use them for part of a journey rather than a whole journey, shifting between different modes of transport, bus, tram, bike. Jenkinson gave a personal example of how this might work. 'To get home quite often I'll get two buses. If I had the opportunity to use a bike to get from the City Chambers to Tollcross, would I do that? Quite possibly and I could get home quicker by using multiple forms of transport. That's a good use case.' Once approved, with no infrastructure to be installed other than painting on the pavements, it could take just weeks to get the bikes onto the streets. For the purpose of the trial, said Cllr Jenkinson, it will be focussed only on the city centre area of Edinburgh. 'But I'd like to think that if we have a really successful trial and the people of Edinburgh think that this is deemed a success, working with whoever provider we have, I can certainly see the coverage expanding across much of Edinburgh.' 'Maybe not everybody,' he added, 'is as bought into this as I am. I'm fortunate enough to travel around Europe and the world, and you can see how these schemes have developed over the years, and I suppose I'm fortunate that I don't bear the scars of the previous scheme because I wasn't elected to the local authority at that time. I look at this with a fresh pair of eyes, but also armed with the evidence of seeing how it can be successful.' With additional reporting by Donald Turvill.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Basildon e-scooters are removed from town after trial
E-scooters have been removed from a town after councillors said they caused significant safety green transport method had been trialled in Basildon, Essex, since Basildon Council voted to abandon the scheme in January after one Labour member told colleagues the riders were "causing carnage". Dott, which ran the trial, said its team collected the two-wheeled vehicles earlier this week, as first reported in the Basildon Echo. "We remain committed to collaborating with local authorities to promote safe and sustainable transport solutions in the future," a spokesman trials were initially meant to run until October 2021, but have been extended on an annual Basildon Council's decision, the trials are continuing in Chelmsford, Colchester and Braintree. 'Reckless riding' Aidan McGurran, a Labour councillor in Basildon, said it was "with some reluctance" that the authority cancelled the scheme."While e-scooters may offer a green transport alternative, our experience has raised significant safety concerns," he added."Residents and businesses have reported issues with reckless riding, especially in town centre areas, and the abandonment of scooters on pavements has created hazards."In December, Essex County Council said the district and borough authorities could opt out of the trials if they wished. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Rental e-scooters are removed from Basildon's streets after years of complaints
CONTROVERSIAL e-scooters have been removed from the streets of Basildonafter 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'. We're now on WhatsApp! Join our new channel at to get all the latest breaking news and exclusive stories delivered straight to your phone. 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."
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
How to cycle in London as a tourist (without annoying locals)
For a quarter of a century in a bygone age, I was a Londoner who used a bicycle for travel to and from work and play; to the office, the pub and the Café des Artistes. London made no provision for us. Apart from a few bus lanes, we shared the same spaces as cars, motor bikes, lorries and buses. We were minnows in the slow-moving river of traffic, ducking and diving to keep out of trouble. There were scary moments and a few painful collisions, usually with a car door that opened into my path. Since moving away from London, I have kept up the cycling and swear at motorists about as often as I curse cyclists while driving. There's no escaping the fact that sharing the road is a confrontational experience. Or is there? Word has trickled out to the shires that 21 st century London is a city transformed by cycling superhighways, special 'bike friendly' traffic lights and widely available public bikes for hire (both the official Santander Cycles, which have permanent pavement docks, and a raft of e-bike options from the likes of Lime, Forest and Dott). A friend whom I would never have imagined on a bicycle tells me she uses the Santander Cycles because there's a docking station near her flat. 'It's efficient and I've started using their e-bikes,' she writes. 'After a busy day the bike is a breath of fresh air that pushes me home.' Clearly, it was time to give London cycling another go, this time as a tourist. I downloaded the Santander app to my phone and paid £3.50 for as many sub-60-minute rides as I could manage in 24 hours. Having found a docking station – with some difficulty, such is the chaos of building work at Paddington – I took possession of my first Boris bike (as they are still affectionately known, named for the city's erstwhile mayor who was in power when they arrived) and embarked on a 20 mile tour of central London: to the Bank of England and back via many famous monuments, museums, bridges, parks and shopping streets. An energetic cyclist could manage that in a couple of hours, but I took most of the day over it, stopping to change mount, eat, drink and see the sights. And loved almost every minute of it. How could I not? On a sunny but not oppressive May day, London was looking its best, decked with blossom and VE Day flags. As I paused at the Serpentine to survey the colourful scene, the heart swelled with unexpected pride at the beauty of our great capital city. Has earth anything to show more fair? What better way to see London and get the feel of how it fits together than on a bicycle? London used to swing. Then it rocked, got rich and stayed cool. These days, London rides. All cycling life is there – delivery boys and girls on bicycles, cyclo-taxis and gaudy rickshaws, students, bankers, tourists. In Chelsea, I suspended docking negotiations to watch an old couple pedal slowly up the King's Road on a tandem. The sight of a cyclist with what looked like a coffin over the front wheel gave me an idea for a start-up, but Cycle Hearse UK has beaten me to it. Helmet wearers were, it must be said, in a minority; headphone wearers not so. Dangerous? Of course it is. I saw two near-calamities, cyclists entirely to blame in both cases. At the Vauxhall Bridge crossroads, a cyclist too deep in conversation or music to hear the siren of a police car on a mission pedalled serenely across its bow, inches from the front bumper, while all other traffic stood still. Later in the day, at Marble Arch, I watched two cyclists converge at full tilt like jousting knights. After a clash of handlebars, a skid and a shouting match, they went their separate ways, doubtless excited by the cut and thrust. Those incidents seem symptomatic of the state of things. Motorists I found less numerous and far more aware and considerate than of old. Not once did a black cab squeeze past me in a narrow lane and turn hard left. As for any change in cyclists' behaviour, there are many more of them and I even saw a handful of them on the phone. In many languages they ride and chat, some with phone in hand, others hands-free. Rules of the road are there for the flouting. It is as if the improved infrastructure has brought a sense of herd immunity. Well done London, for putting up with us and making it such a pleasure, and so easy, to ride a bike. What (and how) to hire Your first decision is which provider to opt for – the two most readily available of which are Santander (both pedal and electric) and Lime (electric only). The Santander day pass (£3.50 for an unlimited number of rides of up to 60 minutes each) suited me best, and for a mostly flat ride I felt no need of an e-bike. The bikes were fine for the purpose, comfortable and easy to adjust. Santander also has e-bikes (£1 per ride extra), but not everywhere. Using the app, it wasn't difficult to find docking stations close to popular sights. Of the dozen I looked at, only one station had no spaces, but several had no e-bikes. Limes are more expensive (£6.99 for 60 minutes, or £18.99 for 200 minutes valid for a week) and heavier; easy to handle once you get going, but less manoeuvrable slowly in tight spaces. The advantages are clear: Limes have a phone holder, the app connects seamlessly with satnav, they go faster for less effort and you don't have to park them in a dock. I saw many more Limes than Santanders in use, and little evidence of the much-publicised issue of abandoned bikes obstructing the pavement. Forest e-bikes operate in much the same way as Limes and are to be found in many of the same places. Practical tips Do Charge your phone. Santander bikes can be unlocked and paid for with a bank card, but the app is essential for finding stations where bikes and spaces are available. Using Lime involves a QR code. Prepare your route in advance. If you don't already know your way around London, navigation is not straightforward. Useful websites include TfL's cycling routes and maps page, Visit London's cycling guide, and the London Cycling Network, which has created a fantastic map of the city's cycle superhighways. Check the bike before committing to it. I didn't see any obviously broken ones, but the state of repair varies. Wobbly pedals and bald tyres are bad indicators. Does it have a bell? Adopt a defensive mindset. Don't be seduced by the specious argument that you're less likely to be hit if you go as fast as everyone else. It's not dodgems. Keep an eye on parked cars as you approach: if there's someone inside, a door may be about to open. Keep to the left in the cycle lane, and only overtake when necessary. Consider buying a helmet if you plan to use the bikes a fair bit during your visit. Likewise, invest in a fluorescent vest if you plan to cycle after dark. Wait in the 'cycle box' (in front of queuing cars) at traffic lights. Don't Get straight out onto the major thoroughfares (or on-road routes) – find somewhere quieter to get into the rhythm first. Rush. Most other cyclists are, understandably enough, in a hurry, working, delivering food or people – but you needn't be. You'll have far more time to enjoy your surroundings if you take things at a more leisurely pace. Speed. Rental e-bikes are said to be limited to 15mph, but there are plenty of cyclists going much faster than that on their own machines. You'll have more time to react and make decisions if you keep your own speed down. Run red lights: you will likely see many other cyclists doing it, which is exactly why you shouldn't. Assume pedestrians on the pavement will stay there. On shopping streets popular with overseas visitors, they're likely to look the wrong way and step out into the road. Wear headphones. It sounds obvious, but it's increasingly common and makes it impossible to be sufficiently aware of what's around you. The golden rules of London cycling etiquette Give clear hand signals, and look over your shoulder to check before making a move. In addition to giving yourself time to get comfortable before heading out onto busy sections, make sure your first forays onto London's cycle lanes do not coincide with rush hour: nothing is more irritating than being stuck behind a slow and weaving tourist when you're trying to get to work. Never abandon your dockless e-bike (eg. Lime) so that it's blocking a pavement or bike lane. Thank other riders or waiting cars with a nod or a raised hand as you would when driving. Do your fellow cyclists a favour and, should your Santander bike develop a major issue while you're using it, flag it by holding down the 'fault' button on the docking point within 10 seconds of returning the bike. It will then show a flashing red and be inaccessible to fellow riders until the fault is fixed.
