Introduction
Whilst e-scooters have been gracing the streets of cities across Europe for some time now, in the UK, these modes remain illegal. It is no secret that there is demand for convenient, independent modes of travel, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such the use of private e-scooters are becoming a common sight across the UK despite their illegality. To support a ‘green’ restart of local travel and help mitigate reduced public transport capacity, the Department for Transport (DfT) has fast-tracked and expanded trials of rental e-scooters. To reach these goals, both private operators and local authorities need to reach a common parking strategy through which end-users’ demand for an efficient, door-to-door mobility service would be satisfied.
Dott, a shared e-scooter operator commissioned an independent joint-study undertaken by Momentum and 6-t Bureau de Recherche. The study identified the opportunities and constraints regarding e-scooter parking in London and used learnings from Dott e-scooters in Paris and transferred them to London whilst considering contextual differences. E-scooter parking solutions are discussed for the London trials, the expected main trip types for e-scooters across Greater London are investigated and national and international research is summarised.
Key findings which are presented throughout the report within infographics and mapping, include the following:
• 98% of Inner London and 78% of Outer London can be reached from a rail or tube station with a 10min e-scooter journey
• 65% of Outer London can be reached from a town centre within a 10min e-scooter journey
• Through the development of e-scooter parking infrastructure, there is an opportunity to improve street space and contribute towards the Healthy Streets indicators
• Through implementing a smart parking strategy, Dott were able to increase e-scooter parking compliance from 35% in Spring 2019 to 97% in Autumn 2020
The report has been widely shared online and featured within industry news articles including on mindthezag.com and Transport Xtra
The full report can be viewed here
