Redditch's e-scooter trial over for now – but safety concerns remain
Redditch's e-scooter trial has been paused after Bird Rides UK, the firm running it, pulled out
Electric scooters will be taken away from Redditch this week after the company behind the trial ended the contract – but some people don’t want to see them back again.
A trial had been underway in the Worcestershire town, but it now leaves civic chiefs weighing up the pros and cons of the scheme.
Bird Rides UK said it was proud of the success of the trial in Redditch and more than 120,000 rides had been made on the scooters.
Authorities in Redditch will now consider the future of the e-scooter trial, which currently has an end date of March 2024.
Cllr Matt Dormer, leader of Redditch Borough Council, said: "Many people in Redditch have enjoyed the transport and environmental benefits of Bird’s service to get to work and around the town.
“There are also lessons to be learned and the experiences we’ve had so far will inform the ongoing debate as we continue to carefully consider all the issues, especially if the government decides to extend the trial beyond March.”
But the town’s Labour leader Councillor Joe Baker said there were “a lot of concerns” from members of the general public.
Last month, an inquest found a 12-year-old boy died in Birmingham as he travelled to school on an e-scooter, crashing with a pedestrian and falling under the wheels of a bus.
Cllr Baker said: “They were very concerned mainly about scooters being left in the middle of the roads, young people riding fast on the pavements, the amount of young people that were using them, people using them without helmets.
“So there was a lot, a lot of concerns from the general public.
“I'm not against the e-scooters, I think in big cities where there's a need for getting about very quickly, I think they have their place.
“However, somewhere that's a small town like Redditch, I can't see how they would help with the environment and with commuting.
“I think what we need to do in Redditch is look at our own infrastructure about our bus services, how people can get around, improve on those, improve on the infrastructure for our own public transport and maybe later on down the line look at a better trial.”
Cllr Dormer said it wasn’t yet clear how the borough could deal with issues arising from the e-scooters, but other areas of the country, such as Bournemouth, hadn’t seen similar issues.
He said the trial being cut short would affect those who regularly use the e-scooters as a way of travelling around the town.
While it is illegal to use a privately owned electric scooter on public roads, pavements or cycle lanes, there are government trials taking place.
One of those areas is in Redditch, and it’s the only place in Herefordshire and Worcestershire where riders can hire an e-scooter to travel around the town.
A spokesperson for Bird Rides UK said: “These rides have saved 4.2 metric tons of CO2 emissions and have become an integral part of people’s daily commute.
"The trial has further shown the high safety level of Bird scooters with an incident rate of 0.00007 per cent rides in Redditch in 2022.”