London e-scooter rental trials: TfL publish interim findings

Transport for London have published data relating to the first 18 months of the e-scooter trial which has been running across a number of London boroughs in the two years since  June 2021.

Operators Dott, Lime and TIER have a combined fleet of 5,000 e-scooters across more than 100 km² of London, served by 600 parking bays. 

In the first 18 months of the trial, more than 2.5 million trips have been made, covering more than 6.46 million kilometres. The average trip duration is 17 minutes and the average trip distance is 2.5km.

During the week, e-scooters were most in demand during the morning and evening peaks although Saturdays have been the busiest day of the week. On days when industrial action affected other forms of transport, significant uplift in e-scooter hire was noted.

52% of registered customers took more than one ride, with the number of repeat riders growing as the trial progressed. On average more than  20,000 new customers joined the scheme every four weeks and over 2,000 customers used the special access schemes discounts which were deigned to to make the scheme more accessible to certain groups.

Safety is obviously a priority and an element of the trial that will be forensically examined. 75 safety awareness events have been held around the capital and 87 users have been banned for reckless riding. There have been no fatalities while the scheme has been operating and 22 injuries described as ‘serious’. It was noted that the regularity of serious injuries fell over time.

It was found that the majority of journeys made on e-scooters were taken as a substitute for walking or cycling with 6.5% of journeys being an alternative to driving. 32% of users combined their e-scooter journeys with public transport.

Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: ‘I’m pleased to mark the second anniversary of London’s hugely popular e-scooter rental trial.  

‘We’ve been clear that the trial must be focussed on safety and support the Mayor’s Vision Zero target to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads. The rental vehicles in London have high safety standards which go beyond the national standards, including speed limits and parking limited to clearly marked bays, to ensure the safety of anyone riding rental e-scooters and other members of the public. 

‘The Mayor and I are determined to continue building a cleaner, greener and more prosperous London for everyone, and these rental e-scooters provide Londoners and visitors alike with a safe and sustainable travel option.’

Helen Sharp, TfL’s e-scooter trial lead, said: ‘E-scooters could play an important role in ensuring a green and sustainable future for London and we delighted to be celebrating the two-year anniversary of the London rental trial. We’re working closely with operators, councils and people across London to build on our plans for the next phase of the trial, which will help us build on its successes so far. We hope Londoners and visitors can continue to benefit from the trial and we will continue to use its data to learn more about the role e-scooters could play in helping people move around London sustainably.’  

The participating boroughs are Camden, City of London, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Westminster.