How we've responded

When rental e-scooters have been abandoned the relevant operator will be notified via technology that this has occurred, and they commit to responding to it within 12 hours or, 1 hour if it presents a danger, to ensure it is moved. All operators investigate these incidents and can fine, warn or ban the user identified.

Operators and boroughs are also monitoring certain parking bays more closely to better understand what is causing these issues and how repeat bad behaviours can be avoided. Methods that have been considered and some are already being planned include; increasing ranger patrols or moving the bays to an alternative location.  

We are also working with the operators to continuously improve their technologies. One example is that we are reviewing and monitoring the effectiveness of geofencing which is used to ensure a rental e-scooter is left in a dedicated parking bay. Where problems are notified these are shared with the operators to be improved and rectified.  

We know we need further accessible and convenient parking locations across the trial area, and this is an area of priority for us, the boroughs and operators.

Additional parking is being added across the trial area and we would encourage you to contact the relevant borough on where you think they could be located to better connect with existing transport hubs or local facilities. 

Feedback that we receive regarding noise disturbance is shared with the operators. The operators are monitoring these notifications and have changed their operational plans so that rental e-scooters are not serviced at certain locations during anti-social hours.

We have also asked the operators to remind their users, via various means, to show consideration to residents when riding during anti-social hours.

If you continue to experience this, you should contact your borough to formally report a complaint about the location of a rental e-scooter parking bay.

Riding any e-scooter on the pavement is illegal. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) are responsible for enforcing against this activity occurring and more generally, we, along with our partners, are working together to tackle poor riding behaviour with various measures.

Where operators are notified of someone riding on the pavement, they will investigate this incident and if appropriate take action to warn or ban the user identified. You can help the operators to do this by sharing instances with them directly including the time, location and registration number of the rental e-scooter involved. Their contact details can be viewed here.

Operators are also developing on-vehicle technological solutions that would alert them if their e-scooters are being ridden on pavements. This could lead to the operators taking action to warn or ban these users.

Lastly, TfL, the MPS, the operators and London’s boroughs are working with several organisations to develop road safety initiatives and education campaigns to foster a safer and more inclusive culture around e-scooter riding.

Dangerous use of any mode is not acceptable and in relation to rental e-scooters there are various mitigations in place to work against seeing these occur on our roads. Some of the critical actions in place include:

All of the operators have mandatory in-app training for first-time riders which contains education on safety, including the need to obey traffic laws, so as to educate and deter dangerous riding behaviours from the first use.  

In relation to intoxicated riders, all of the operators have safeguards in place to deter them from renting an e-scooter in the first place. This includes in-app messaging during the night-time and unsociable hours to remind users that drink-riding is illegal and potential riders are also asked to confirm their sobriety before use.

For the London trial, users must be 18 or over to hire a rental e-scooter. When people sign up to ride, users have to self-certify that they are over 18 and their licence will also be verified by the operators. 

Where operators have been notified of any report of dangerous riding on rental e-scooters, including dual riding, they have taken action which could potentially lead to either warning or banning these users from their service. It’s easiest for operators to identify these users if they have the time, location and registration number of the e-scooter involved in the incident. You can contact the operators using these details and we encourage anyone who spots these behaviours to report them.