Slough Council could extend e-scooter trial by two years

Senior councillors are set to decide this November to continue with the e-scooter scheme until May 2024 and, if e-scooters are made fully legal by the government, that the scheme is kept.

SBC says this extension of the trial will allow the council to obtain further data to analyse the impact of the e-scooters.

The bright orange electric scooters were introduced in the town in October 2020, with operator Neuron Mobility operating 300 dockless e-scooters.

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The national e-scooter rental trial scheme began in July 2020 and was set to end this November. It is currently illegal for privately owned e-scooters to be used on public roads and footways.

The invitation to run a trial e-scooter rental scheme, alongside other towns and cities, came from the Government, to gather data to help inform the future legal status of, and associated regulations for, e-scooters. It also enables them to understand the impacts and benefits of e-scooters and usage data and travel patterns.

But since the introduction in Slough, residents raised serious health and safety concerns and called for SBC to scrap the trial.

The orange e-scooters have proven to be controversial since its introduction in 2020 (Image: .)

Resident Jaspal Dhariwal, who raised a government petition calling for the Department of Transport to revoke the scheme, previously said: “I have health and safety concerns regarding such scooters being illegally ridden on pavements. The Department of Transport initiated this scheme and should revoke its support and ensure any current trials are stopped.”

But SBC and Neuron insisted a “vast majority” of their riders are using the e-scooters in a “safe and responsible manner”.

A survey to gather residents’ and users’ views about the rental trial scheme has been extended until the end of August.

Councillor Mohammed Nazir (Lab: Baylis & Stoke), lead member for transport and the local environment, is urging everyone to have their say.

He said: “We’ve heard various opinions from residents during the period the e-scooters have been in Slough. We want to get a better understanding of residents' and users’ views on rental e-scooters, as well as the benefits people experience when they use them.

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“We need these views to be made official so they can be taken into consideration for the future of the scheme.”

To help the council and the Government understand the impacts and benefits of e-scooters, please fill in the online survey, which is open until 11.59pm on Wednesday, August 31 2022.

At the end of the trial schemes in May 2024, the Government will decide on whether to fully legalise the use of e-scooters.