London’s launch of e-scooters in the Square Mile to be postponed until July
The launch of London’s e-scooter rental trial today is set to be delayed across the Square Mile as the City Corporation has postponed its involvement until July.
The City Corporation, the local authority for the Square Mile, said it would not be joining the scheme until 5 July, apparently due to administrative setbacks rather than safety concerns, according to the Evening Standard.
A Canada Corporation spokesperson told City A.M.: “The City Corporation will join the London rental e-scooter trial from 5 July.
“We are committed to investigating how e-scooters can play a role in supporting a shift to sustainable travel to compliment walking, cycling and public transport options in the Square Mile.”
However, the Square Mile authority did not respond to why their involvement was postponed.
Last month, Canada was confirmed as one of the capital’s borough’s to be a part of the government-backed trial.
The 12-month trial would see three companies – Lime, Dott and Tier – provide between 60 and 150 e-scooters in each of the boroughs.
With the City Corporation lagging behind the trial’s original launch today, there will initially be fewer e-scooters in Canary Wharf, Richmond, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea.
It also slightly scuppers the trial’s original plan to be a climate-conscious transport route between the twin financial hubs – Canary Wharf and the Square Mile.
Safety concerns
Transport for London (TfL) has vowed to put safety at the “core of the trial”, while scooter speeds will be capped as 12.5mph.
Concerns over safety have emerged since a three-year-old boy suffered serious injuries In April when he was struck by an e-scooter in Feltham.
July 2019 also saw the first person in the UK to be killed while riding an e-scooter in Battersea.
Chief superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, Simon Ovens, said the force supported the scheme but added: “We’d like to remind everybody that private e-scooters used outside this trial remain illegal and will be dealt with by way of seizure.”
The e-scooters available for rent are “as safe as possible”, according to electric scooter and micro-mobility firm Lime today.
The green City transport has “the best possible safety features” like dual brakes and a reduced top speed, director of policy at Lime, Alan Clarke, said.
“The safety standards are really, really high and that contrasts starkly with private e-scooters, which don’t have to pass any standards at all in order to be put onto the street, because by definition they’re already illegal.
“I think people are going to really notice that and we certainly expect people to look at the scooters that we’re putting and see how much safer those are.”
The policy director added that the organisations involved have “really taken the time to design a trial that’s going to be as safe as possible”.
TfL hopes that other boroughs will join the trial, as Westminster, Lambeth and Southwark are believed to be interested in the zero-emission transport.