E-bike and E-scooter - ongoing issues and discussion (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

From Bristol 247:

POLICE PRAISE E-SCOOTER TRIAL AFTER FEARING 'TWISTED METAL AND BODIES SCATTERED ALL OVER THE HIGHWAY'

Police chiefs have been won over by the region's e-scooter trials after initially fearing 'twisted metal and bodies scattered all over the highway', it has been revealed.

Avon & Somerset Constabulary traffic management unit boss Richard McKiernan told a remote meeting that he had expected carnage on roads and pavements during the West of England Combined Authority's (WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about)'s) pilot project.

Instead it has been a 'policing non-event' and he has been 'massively reassured' by the trial, which metro mayor Tim Bowles says will become vital in how we move around the region for generations to come.

...continues

I read that too, and thought it grounds for measured optimism. I can't imagine how it will pan out in the future. A limited experiment during a prolonged quiet spell with a few hundred machines owned by a monopoly is one thing. Upscaling that to a few thousand, and letting people use the scooter they bought on EBay to cut through a dark, rainy rush hour in the run-up to Christmas may prove to be a horse of a different colour.

[johnneyw]

I don't know what the overall take up is currently like in Bristol but since a couple of e-scooter hubs appeared fairly near my house, they have become a frequent sight on the roads in my locality.  The clientele seem to be overwhelmingly in the under 30 age group and so far, they seem to be combining successfully with the rest of the road users in the Redland/Bishopston/Westbury Park locales where Johnneyw Towers is located.

[CyclingSid]

Brave or foolish users in London
https://twitter.com/MPSRoyal_Parks/status/1357854916677693446/photo/1
Wouldn't last long with the pot holes in Reading

[grahame]

I saw two people using them today. I think they'd just activated the app and unlocked them.

Yeah, 20p a minute does seem a lot compared to ?1 an hour for the Yo bikes (which of course aren't electric) or even to a bus fare.

Noting that YoBikes are now NoBikes.  From Bristol 24/7

Bristol’s dockless bicycle hire scheme is no more, with YoBike quietly pulling the plug on their operations in the city.

The YoBike website has been deleted but the app is still available to download.

Customers across Bristol are now asking how they can get money back which is still on their accounts within the YoBike app.

A natural thinning out of the commercial market as it matures, a problem with the business model, or something else?  How are cycle hire outfits doing elsewhere?

[Bmblbzzz]

As far as I'm aware other schemes in other cities are still running. I can only speculate but I'd guess at two factors:
Competition from the new (to Bristol) electric scooter hire scheme, which is very popular.
A natural consequence of the dockless hire model. Because the bikes don't have to be returned to a secure location to end the hire period, they're more vulnerable to vandalism, theft and being thrown in the New Cut. This means greater operating expenses in terms of distribution and maintenance and replenishing dwindling supplies. Which leads to another potential factor, running out of stock!

[Richard Fairhurst]

They've pretty much all gone from Oxford, which once had four competing companies. Great shame - I used Mobike extensively in Milan a couple of years ago and it was a superb way of seeing the city. But frankly this is what happens when big-bang VC investment means that a company doesn't grow a market organically...

[stuving]

And, coincidentally, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) today -

Bikes from failed ReadyBike hire scheme used for tourism boost

Bicycles left over from a failed hire scheme are being donated to hotels in a bid to boost tourism.

The ReadyBike scheme in Reading ended in 2019 after struggling when a government subsidy ended.

It emerged Reading Borough Council had been keeping the scheme running at a cost of £10,000 a month.

The council said it was donating 50 redundant bikes as a "new sustainable travel option" for hotel visitors and staff.

The stock of ReadyBikes has been kept in storage since the bike hire scheme ended two years ago.

The bikes were also offered to key workers in Reading as part of a short-term loan scheme during the pandemic.

Reading's hotels had suffered from lockdowns restricting overnight stays, with some losing almost an entire year's income, the council said.

Nigel Horton Baker of Reading UK^▸ (United Kingdom), which promotes tourism in the Berkshire town, said the donation was "very welcome" for the "hard-hit tourism and hospitality sector" which has been curtailed with lockdowns restricting overnight stays.

"With business visitor numbers decimated, it is vital that Reading's hotels are able to attract leisure visitors this year.

"Promoting Reading as a healthy and safe outdoor destination will be an important strand of this work," he added.

[CyclingSid]

The Brompton hire in Reading also failed, although I believe that was partly to do with repeated attempts to steal the bikes. Last time I looked Brompton hire had never turned a profit.

[Bmblbzzz]

I would imagine (might be wrong) the Brompton Docks were aimed very much at commuters. So maybe, just maybe, business will pick up for them from next year.

[TonyK]

In Bristol, I became accustomed to the yellow bikes, or remains thereof, being dumped willy-nilly. I wondered how a business could continue in that situation. Seems I know the answer now.

[Red Squirrel]

HIRE SCOOTERS REMOVED FROM AREAS OF CLIFTON VILLAGE

The menace of a melee of hire scooters has led to complaints that the vehicles are regularly blocking pavements across Bristol.

Voi vehicles need to be parked by users in specific places, but some of these “geofenced” areas are on narrow pavements.

Cliftonwood resident Jess Siggers said that she “frigging hates these things”, referring to the e-scooters and tweeting a photo of more than a dozen them blocking the pavement on Sion Hill close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

[...]

The e-scooter operator is now exploring new user features to ensure scooters are correctly parked and has launched a page where people can report any misplaced scooters: www.voiscooters.com/report/uk

Full article

Source: Bristol247

[grahame]

Bikes on buses - an interesting but old post from Walk Ride Bath of a prototype / development test by First and a refusal on principle by the DVSA to allow it.

My last mail made it clear we do not on principle accept cycle racks on the front of British PSVs. If a VTP5 was submitted for this vehicle modification it would be refused because of the large number of sharp projections from the rack itself as well as any cycles carried increasing the risk of injury in a pedestrian impact. As a secondary issue I consider the view to the front will be seriously compromised towards the nearside pavement where we want drivers to have a clear view of any relatively short people including children at the kerbside.

I have mirrored the full article at http://www.passenger.chat/FrontofBusCycleRacks.pdf to ensure we have it for posterity; a very interesting discussion lead.  Thanks to Jordan Curran's post on the Somerset Catch the Bus Campaign for bringing it to wider attention.

[broadgage]

Decades ago, almost every bus company had a rule against carrying "accumulators".
For the benefit of our younger members these were glass cased lead acid cells of 2 volts, used to provide the "low tension" supply to ones valve wireless.
They had to be taken, usually weekly, to the radio shop or sometimes the bicycle shop or motor car workshop to be recharged.
It was reasonable to prohibit carriage by bus, 2 volts, or the less common 4 volts, was harmless from a strictly electrical point of view. The risk was the tipping over of the battery and spilling the acid, or dropping it and the glass breaking.
Shopping baskets were made with a special compartment to conceal ones accumulator  carry cleaning products separated from food stuffs/protect eggs from breakage.

Such rules probably still exist, and someone may have over interpreted them as prohibiting battery powered cycles. A bit pointless as they allow cordless power tools and laptop PCs.
There is a culture amongst some bus companies and among some bus drivers that likes rules for their own sake.

[broadgage]

E scooter hire to be expanded.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48106617

A good thing in my view, there will of course be accidents, but hopefully not too many.
Cycling and walking also results in accidents but these modes of transport are tolerated and even encouraged.

With the current concerns about climate change and fossil fuel depletion, we need to encourage use of E-scooters and other very low carbon options such as E-bikes.

In my view private E scooters should be allowed, not just rental machines. They should be subject to the same limits on speed as are E- cycles.

E-scooters and E-bikes of greater speed and power should NOT be totally prohibited, but should be treated as motorcycles, and require a motorcycle licence, hard hat, and insurance.

No such should be required for low speed machines.

[TaplowGreen]

E scooter hire to be expanded.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48106617

A good thing in my view, there will of course be accidents, but hopefully not too many.
Cycling and walking also results in accidents but these modes of transport are tolerated and even encouraged.

With the current concerns about climate change and fossil fuel depletion, we need to encourage use of E-scooters and other very low carbon options such as E-bikes.

In my view private E scooters should be allowed, not just rental machines. They should be subject to the same limits on speed as are E- cycles.

E-scooters and E-bikes of greater speed and power should NOT be totally prohibited, but should be treated as motorcycles, and require a motorcycle licence, hard hat, and insurance.

No such should be required for low speed machines.

Those on offer in 4 London Boroughs are limited to 15mph and require the hirer to have a car licence, not motorcycle licence.

Helmets are not compulsory, but anyone choosing not to wear one clearly has little worth protecting in their head.