Rental e-scooter trial

Rental electric scooters, also known as e-scooters, are available to hire in Ealing. This is part of a London wide trial, co-ordinated by Transport for London and London Councils. 

From 25 September 2023, Ealing and other London boroughs launched phase 2 of the e-scooter trial. TIER will no longer be operating e-scooters in Ealing. Voi, who currently operate in other UK cities, will introduce their e-scooters. The new scooters can be booked through the Voi app and follow the same rules as Dott and Lime.

Rental e-scooter operators

Safety standards 

  • riders must be 18 or over and have a full or provisional driving licence to rent an e-scooter
  • e-scooters will be capped with a maximum speed of 12.5mph
  • lights at the front and the rear of the vehicles that are always on throughout any rental
  • audible warning systems that can be used without adjusting the rider's grip of the handlebar

E-scooters will need to be parked in designated bays. 

To rent an e-scooter, download the operators app which will be signposted on the e-scooter. It costs £1 to unlock the e-scooter, and 15-20p per minute afterwards.

Legal use of electric scooters

The London rental e-scooter scheme is approved by the Department for Transport (DfT).

Rental e-scooters is the only way to legally ride an e-scooter on public roads, or in public spaces. Riding on pavements is banned.

It is illegal to use privately owned e-scooters, other than on private land with land-owners’ permission. The police will continue to deal with the illegal use of privately owned e-scooters. 

Contacting and spotting e-scooter operators

Each operator's e-scooter is brightly coloured and has a unique ID number which is labelled clearly on the vehicle.

Contact the e-scooter operator to report illegal pavement riding, abandoned or mis-parked e-scooter. Please give the date, time, location, colour and serial number of the e-scooter. 

Contact the operators if you have any questions, complaints or feedback.

Dott

  • Dott e-scooters have a light blue frame colour, and red handlebars and wheels
  • call Dott on 0800 048 8993 or email support@ridedott.com

Lime

  • Lime e-scooters have a green and white frame colour, and black handlebars and wheels
  • call Lime on 0800 808 5223 or email support@li.me

Voi

  • Voi e-scooters have a red frame colour, and black handlebars and wheels
  • call Voi on 0800 376 8179 or email support@voi.com

What’s different with Phase 2?

  • operators: the selected operators are Dott, Lime and Voi(Voi will replace TIER) - the operators were selected earlier this summer following a competitive procurement process, where their ability to meet strict safety requirements and high operating standards were carefully assessed
  • operations: over the past two years, TfL and London Councils have worked with participating boroughs and operators to improve the use of geofencing technology and increase the number of parking bays, with more than 600 parking bays now available across the trial area - this effort to improve the customer experience for rental e-scooterusers will continue throughout this next phase
  • geography: the trial currently runs in ten London boroughs who’ve chosen to take part; the next phase will see an expansion in coverage, including to the south of Lambeth with around 190 new parking bays later this year
  • data and insights: the trial’s next phase will look to build on its existing success by gathering more data to inform policy on rental e-scooters and trialling further innovations
  • innovation and technology: this includes trialling new technology such as AI to improve parking compliance and exploring the use of pavement riding detection technology and audible vehicle alerts

Benefits

TIER have launched a UK Access Scheme for Blue Light Card holders (including veterans), NHS employees, university students and staff, apprentices, those on low incomes, refugees and asylum seekers, disabled people, over 65's and London ULEZ scrappage scheme recipients.

e-scooter training 

All e-scooter operators offer free training sessions designed for beginners and first-time users. These sessions teach you how to safely operate an e-scooter on the road in a safe environment. Womens only training sessions are also available. Please visit the training providers website for more information:

Monitoring and evaluation

We will be closely monitoring the trial. If it does not meet the needs of residents and businesses, we will stop taking part in the trial. If you would like give feedback on the trial, email transportplanningservice@ealing.gov.uk.

e-bikes

E-bikes are not regulated in the same way as e-scooters. The quickest way to report any issues with rental e-bikes is directly with the operator using the details above.

More information 

For more information about the trial visit TfL's website.