Policy paper

Government response to the e-scooter trials evaluation report

Published 15 December 2022

Applies to England

Rental e-scooter trials were launched in July 2020 in 32 areas across England. The Department for Transport commissioned an independent evaluation of the e-scooter trials, running from July 2020 to early 2022, examining how and why rental e-scooters are used, and by whom, as well as safety, mode shift, environmental and wider social impacts. This report provides the full summary of findings, and the evidence will inform future e-scooter policy.

DfT is grateful to its contractors – Arup, NatCen and Valtech – for their work on the evaluation and on developing and maintaining the associated data infrastructure. We welcome the report and its findings.

The national evaluation of the e-scooter trials represents one of the largest evaluations of e-scooters internationally in terms of the breadth of data collected. As the first trial of these vehicles within the context of the United Kingdom, both the strengths and limitations identified represent valuable knowledge. The lessons learned will be used to inform future policy.

DfT welcomes the conclusion that rental e-scooters can serve as a valuable mode of transport, with 14.5 million rental e-scooter trips completed by December 2021. Some key findings include:

• an increased use of rental e-scooters for purposeful journeys, such as commuting
• a progressive increase in mode shift away from private vehicles as trials matured
• rental e-scooters providing access to new travel options for some groups, with people from ethnic minority groups and on low incomes more likely to use e-scooters regularly
• the majority of residents in trial areas saw the introduction of e-scooters in their area as positive

DfT acknowledges the learning points from the report and aims to incorporate these into future policy development. Some of the main learning points include:

• Data indicates that the frequency of rental e-scooter collisions was higher during 2021 than for pedal cycles (including bicycles and e-bikes), though this was likely to be driven in part by the novel nature of the mode. Survey findings indicate that collisions were more likely to occur among less experienced users, making it difficult to make like-for-like comparisons with more established modes.
• While the frequency of rental e-scooter collisions was higher than for pedal cycles, the types of injuries reported by rental e-scooter users in the user survey appeared broadly similar to the types of injuries reported by cyclists, according to initial DfT analysis of the National Travel Survey (2020).
• E-scooter and other road users raised concerns around technical elements of the e-scooter design such as e-scooter audibility, visibility and acceleration.
• Some members of the public raised concerns about the behaviour displayed by riders, with pavement riding causing particular concern among with pedestrians with mobility issues and blind or partially sighted individuals.

Through updates in guidance and regulation of the e-scooter trials, we have already used some of the report’s findings to make changes. These include:

• mandatory unique identification numbers for all rental e-scooters, to allow members of the public to differentiate trial from non-trial e-scooters
• increased guidance and encouragement for operators to provide helmets and incentivise their use

You can read the full e-scooter trials guidance for local areas and rental operators.

To maximise the benefits of the e-scooter trials evaluation report, DfT will learn lessons from this evaluation and we look forward to releasing further information on the future policy around e-scooters and similar light electric vehicles.