Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to encourage a shift from cars to (a) e-scooters and (b) other forms of active travel.

Only e-scooters in Government-approved rental trials can be used legally.

Private e-scooters remain illegal to use on all public roads, cycle lanes and pavements, and rental e-scooters can only be used in national rental e-scooter trial areas. E-scooter trials are currently live in 23 areas across England and will run until 31 May 2024.

Safety for road users and pedestrians ​will always be a priority for the Department. In the guidance for the trials provided by the Department, it is advised that local authorities should ensure e-scooters do not become obstructive to pedestrians. The Department also recognises e-scooters may pose a particular challenge to those with disabilities. Operators and local authorities participating in the trials have been working with organisations representing disabled groups, such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People. Some of the outcomes have been designing parking racks, improved rider education and training, as well as a mandatory requirement for all e-scooters in the trial to be fitted with a horn or bell to warn other road users of their approach.

All e-scooters in the rental trials must have a horn or bell to warn other road users of their approach. Operators are also exploring installing sound or replicating artificial engine noise on their trial e-scooters to assist with detection.

Statistics on personal injury collisions involving e-scooters in Great Britain reported by police via the STATS19 system are available from 2020, with the latest provisional statistics for 2022. The number of reported injury collisions involving at least one e-scooter, involving a pedestrian casualty, or more than one vehicle, are shown in the table below.

Please note that a collision could involve both pedestrian casualties and multiple vehicles, in which case it could be counted more than once in the table. Statistics on collisions involving uninjured pedestrians are not collected.

The Department has published an evaluation of the e-scooter trials covering the period from July 2020 to December 2021. This provided an assessment of the impact of our policies on trends in usage, including trip numbers. The evaluation findings are available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-evaluation-of-e-scooter-trials-report.

As part of the trials evaluation, the Department has gathered information about modal shift.  While the evaluation found that rental e-scooter journeys most commonly replaced walking journeys (42%), followed by private motor vehicles or taxis (21%), the proportion of walking journeys being replaced reduced over time, while the proportion of private motor vehicle or taxi journeys being replaced increased over time.

Active travel is at the heart of the Government’s agenda, and it is investing more in it than any previous Government. The Department wants cycling and walking to be the natural first choice for shorter journeys, helping to improve air quality and health while reducing congestion on our roads. The Department has set an ambitious vision that by 2030, half of all journeys in towns and cities are cycled or walked.

The Department estimates that 2% (1,091,823 people) of adults, equivalent to one million people aged 16+, owned an e-scooter in England as of June 2022¹ . This figure is from the Transport and Technology Tracker (June 2022; base = 3162). A 95 % confidence interval gives a range of 847,660 - 1,335,986 people age 16+ who own an e-scooter in England.

The Department is currently considering options for e-scooter regulations that would be enabled by new primary legislation for micromobility vehicles, which the Government intends to introduce when parliamentary time allows.

No decisions have been made, and we will consult on any new regulations before they come into force so that all interested parties have a chance to shape the new regime.