Norwich area to get more e-scooters in extended trial

It remains illegal to use an e-scooter on the road, outside of government-approved trials

A city e-scooter trial is to double in size and be extended into a nearby town and two villages.

A fleet of 250 e-scooters have been available for rental in the Greater Norwich area since September 2020, as part of a government trial.

Norfolk County Council said an extra 250 will be added, along with rental bays in Wymondham, Drayton and Hethersett.

It extended its take-up of the "well used" scheme until the end of November.

The Department for Transport pilot, rolled out in 32 areas across across England, was initially for 12 months.

'Fantastic benefits'

It has been extended in many areas due to lockdown, and to give ministers more time to consider any legislation regarding changes to the law on e-scooters, the county council said.

It believes doubling the number of e-scooters to 500 will remove 131,400 motor vehicles each year, and 34 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Beryl e-scooters are often available alongside Beryl bikes and e-bikes, as pictured in Sprowston, near Norwich

The scheme is managed by e-scooter operator Beryl, which the county council said had 40,000 local users on its app.

Bays containing Beryl e-scooters, bikes, and e-bikes are currently dotted around the city centre and in outlying villages and suburbs.

Their introduction in Wymondham, 10 miles (16km) from the city centre, is the furthest the scheme has been extended locally.

Martin Wilby, the council's cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: "We are already seeing the fantastic benefits e-scooters can bring to our transport mix, with over 150,000 journeys and half a million kilometres (310,685 miles) travelled since the trial began.

"We know that many of these journeys would otherwise have been made by car so used in a controlled and responsible way the potential to reduce congestion on our roads and improve air quality is massive."

He said the scheme had a "good safety record" locally, with "very low instances" of accidents, with e-scooter training introduced and an updated e-scooter design.