Bristol City Council has announced that it is set to expand its e-scooter service across the entire city.
Introduced over two phases, the scheme’s current hop-on-hop-off operating area covers the northwest of the city – 65% of the Bristol City Council area – before extending to the south of Bristol in July. This will see the operating area increase by over a third to nearly 60 square miles in total.
The e-scooter trial is being operated by Voi and led by the West of England Combined Authority in partnership with Bristol City Council, Bath & North East Somerset Council, and South Gloucestershire Council.
Following approval by Bristol City Council’s cabinet in May, the full operating area will be the same as the current long-term rental service, and will include Avonmouth, Henbury and Southmead in the first phase, and Bishopsworth, Knowle and Brislington in the second phase, among others.
The expansion reflects the popularity of e-scooters as ridership has hit more than four million journeys, with riders travelling nearly seven million miles across Bristol and South Gloucestershire since being introduced in October 2020.
With a larger operating area, more people will also be able to take advantage of the service and the various discounts available, including those on low incomes, NHS staff and students.
For example, people from low-income groups are eligible to receive more than 80% off their rides via Voi-4-All discounts, which means users could travel around for £1.22 a day or for £8.75 per month with Voi’s daily and monthly passes.
Councillor Don Alexander, Bristol City Council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “Opening up e-scooters to the whole of Bristol will increase the range of transport options to all of our residents, providing more sustainable travel choices and helping us work towards cleaner air, and less congestion and pollution while unlocking barriers to inclusive economic growth.
“There are some elements of the trial that could be improved, and the recent extension of the trial to November and this geographical expansion to the entire city will give the opportunity to get more data and test possible solutions.”
The results of the trial, along with other trials taking place across the country, will be sent to the UK Department for Transport, to help inform future national policy around e-scooters.
