Transport for London (TfL) and London Councils have launched the second phase of London’s shared e-scooter trial, which is being carried out by Dott, Lime and Voi under a contract awarded earlier this year.
The new trial phase aims to build on learnings from the first phase, while also offering opportunities to test new onboard technologies such as pavement riding detection, audible vehicle alerts, and the use of AI to improve parking compliance.
Over the past two years, TfL and London Councils have worked with operators to continuously improve the e-scooter rental trials. This has included upgrading geofencing technologies and increasing the number of parking bays across the city.
During the second phase, additional safety rules will also come into effect to further enhance their use.
These include:
- A lower maximum speed of 12.5mph
- Lights at the front and the rear of the vehicles, which will remain on throughout any rental
- GPS-controlled parking and no-go zones
- A unique identification number plate on every vehicle
- A higher standard for fire and battery safety management
The trial currently runs in ten London boroughs who have opted to take part. In addition to the new safety regulations, the next phase will also see an expansion in coverage, including to the south of Lambeth. This expansion will add around 190 new parking bays.
Helen Sharp, TfL's e-scooter trial lead, said:London’s trial of rental e-scooters is gathering hugely valuable data and insights about e-scooters, having successfully delivered more than three million trips so far with operators Dott, Lime and TIER. The successes of the first phase of the trial and efforts from these operators alongside London Councils and the participating boroughs allows us to build on this through the next phase of the trial which will make it even safer, easier and more convenient to use e-scooters through a rental scheme.
