29 June
The yellow electric scooters of Wind Mobility, the official partner of Nottingham City Council for the e-scooter trial programme, have been used for more than 500,000 rides since the launch of the trial last October, making it one of the most popular trials in the UK.
Currently, 600 e-scooters are deployed within the boundaries of Nottingham City Council and, with Covid-19 restrictions easing and warmer weather, Wind has seen a significant increase in rides.
Lukasz Rybak, City Operations Manager Nottingham at Wind, said: “Half a million rides in less than eight months since the start of the trial shows the high popularity of our e-scooters among residents of Nottingham. With up to 10 rides per scooter per day, Nottingham’s e-scooter trial is one of the most popular trials in the UK.
“We see a high number of rides during the morning and early evening hours indicating that many residents of Nottingham use our e-scooters for their daily commute.
“On average, each scooter is used for an average distance of 1.5 miles. We expect to hit one million rides well before the end of the year.
“One of the major factors contributing to the popularity of the e-scooter scheme is the low price as Wind is offering an affordable service at 12p per minute and a long-term subscription model for key workers at only £30 per month.”
Since the launch of the trial, Wind has taken a number of measures to address emerging issues such as badly parked scooters and pavement riding. This includes the definition and expansion of no-go and slow speed areas as well as educational videos and communication to educate customers on responsible e-scooter use. Wind has also introduced penalties for wrongly parked scooters.
In addition, Wind Mobility has rolled out number plates across the fleet, to make it easier to identify users who have behaved irresponsibly, and deployed patrollers, who roam around the city to identify and take action against anyone caught pavement riding, or riding or parking their e-scooter irresponsibly. This includes the education of users on responsible e-scooter use as well as warnings or a suspension or ban of the user account for severe or repeated cases of irresponsible behaviour. In the coming weeks, the local Wind team will also hold regular in-person events in the city centre to educate users and those interested in responsible e-scooter use and traffic regulations.
Councillor Rosemary Healy, Portfolio Holder for Transport at the City Council, said: “Nottingham’s scheme is one of around 40 Government-backed trials taking place across the country, looking at whether e-scooters could provide a clean, convenient and affordable way to get around, replacing shorter car journeys and helping to lower carbon emissions and improve air quality.
“We’re pleased that people have really engaged with the trial and the popularity has been very encouraging. However, as with any form of transport, we are reliant on users behaving responsibly, and we will continue to work with Wind and Nottinghamshire Police on further measures to enforce the rules and to deter irresponsible and illegal riding.”
For more information on the trial visit our project page.
For the latest news and updates, check out our previous news items.
