LEGAL electric scooters and e-bikes are about to arrive on the streets of Frampton Cotterell, Winterbourne and Coalpit Heath as a regional hire scheme expands into the area.
People living in the three villages can expect to see the distinctive light turquoise Dott vehicles from Monday, July 7, when they are added to the network.
South Gloucestershire Council and the West of England Combined Authority are finalising sites for parking the vehicles, which can be hired by the by the minute, by ride or by the month using an app.
E-bikes and e-scooters have been widely used in Bristol and Bath since launching in 2020, and almost 10,000 rides are already made every day.
Metro Mayor Helen Godwin joined South Gloucestershire Council cabinet councillor Chris Willmore and Iqbal Ahmed from operator Dott to announce the news of an expansion of the WESTscoot and WESTbike hire scheme in South Gloucestershire.
Scheme will expand to Yate next
After it gets up and running in Coalpit Heath, Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne, the intention is to expand further to Yate and Chipping Sodbury in the autumn.
Ms Godwin said: “E-bikes and e-scooters have quickly become a big part of our transport mix in Bristol and Bath, and parts of South Gloucestershire, helping to reduce congestion on our roads and improve air quality.”
Cllr Willmore, South Gloucestershire Council’s cabinet member for planning, regeneration and infrastructure, said: “We are very pleased to see e-bikes and e-scooters expand to cover more areas in South Gloucestershire, offering communities another sustainable option for travel.
“As part of our climate and nature emergency aims, we are committed to reducing dependence on cars by encouraging the use of low-carbon, convenient ways to move around the area.
“Making small changes in the way we travel can help reduce congestion and improve air quality, bringing improvements for everyone.”
The scheme is still officially a trial, and hiring an e-scooter via the app, after uploading a driving licence, is the only way to legally ride an e-scooter on a public – although privately-owned scooters being used illegally on roads and paths are a common sight across the country.
Converting scooter riding ‘from illegal to legal’
Cllr Willmore, who represents the Yate North ward, said part of the rationale behind the expansion was to convert e-scooter riding “from illegal to legal”.
She said: “People have voted with their feet, and have been using illegal ones.
“We’ve been pushing for the Yate area to be included because we’ve been seeing people on scooters everywhere, and I would much rather they had legal, safe ones than illegal ones being driven dangerously by underage people.”
Dott head of public policy Iqbal Ahmed said the hire scooters and bikes were also safer because their batteries were charged by the company, rather than in people’s homes.
Overnight charging of private scooter and bike batteries has been linked with several fatal fires, including one in a Bristol tower block in 2022.
Marked parking bays for the scooters and bikes in Frome Valley villages were still being finalised as the launch event took place.
Cllr Willmore said: “We’re going from 0 to 60 in places like Frampton, Winterbourne and Coalpit Heath, and if we go live with the wrong location it won’t work.”
The latest expansion has also brought Lyde Green, Cadbury Heath, Longwell Green, Oldland Common and Warmley into the scheme, adding areas where around 40,000 people live.
The total size of the West of England fleet of e-bikes and e-scooters is now almost 4,000.
More details about how to hire the bikes can be found at the travelwest.info website.
Picture: Dott UK’s Iqbal Ahmed, Metro Mayor Helen Godwin and council cabinet member Chris Willmore launch the expanded scheme