Transport for London is expanding its e-scooter trial to include Southwark – but you won’t be able to rent them in the borough.
People using the e-scooters are now officially allowed to ride through Southwark on roads, cycle lanes and cycle paths, although it seems likely that this was already happening. You are not allowed to ride the TfL e-scooters on pavements. Private e-scooters are still officially only allowed to be ridden on private land.
As part of the expansion, a further 600 e-scooters are now also available to hire in north Lambeth and the City of London, taking the total available in the capital to 1,200. The trial has been running since June 7 in Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Richmond. Tower Hamlets is also a ‘ride-through borough’ like Southwark.
Some people have raised concerns about safety of e-scooters and their possible links to crime. Riders do not need to pass a test, and users often do not wear helmets or lights.
The Met’s Ch Supt Simon Ovens said last year: “I believe that some people are using e-scooters as an attractive mode of transport, especially in their commute to work, but they remain notoriously dangerous.”
TfL said safety was its “top priority” as it continues the trial rollout.
Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner, said: “I’m pleased that London’s rental e-scooter trial is expanding to cover the City of London, and parts of Lambeth and Southwark. Extending the footprint of the trial to more areas will enable us to get a better understanding of the role e-scooters can play in switching car journeys to greener and more sustainable alternatives. Safety continues to be at the heart of our trial, with London’s more stringent safety standards also in place in the new large area.”
Helen Sharp, TfL’s e-scooter trial lead added that the trial?of e-scooters?is “already providing vital data about the long-term role?they?could play in a greener and healthier future for the capital.
“Safety remains our top priority and we will continue to closely monitor e-scooters in the new and existing trial areas, making improvements wherever identified,” she adeddd.
Mayor Philip Glanville, Chair of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee, added that the trial “aims to support London’s diverse local communities by being inclusive of the travel needs of all Londoners, especially those on lower incomes.”
TfL said it would be looking to expand the trial to more London boroughs in future.
We are all going on about the scooters that they are renting. Riding on pavements. Going through red lights. Ect ect ect what about the bikes they do the same thing and there’s more of them. We need to make shore a law is introduced and enforcement made on each and everyone of them to wear safety equipment like helmets high vi’s tops and have lights on the bike. Fines introduced and all of them made to pay the fine.
When can we rent and park in Southwark?
Ride thru is nonsense as you can only park by Southwark tube station!!
Southwark residents are being disadvantaged