From Monday (7 June 2021) electric scooters (e-scooters) will be available to hire in several London boroughs, including some parts of Ealing, as part of a London-wide rental e-scooter pilot delivered by Transport for London (TfL).

The trial will cover areas in Ealing and Acton and e-scooters will only be able to be ridden in these areas.

This is the only legal way to ride an e-scooter on public roads and cycle lanes in the capital - and only in the specific areas. Ealing Council will closely monitor the trial and should it not meet the needs of residents and businesses, will stop participating in the trial.

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The rental e-scooters will be provided by three operators; Dott, Lime and TIER. E-scooters will be required to be parked in designated bays by hirers and operators. To hire an e-scooter, riders must be 18 or over and have a full or provisional driving license.

The maximum speed limit will be capped at 12.5mph, 3mph slower than permitted in trials in the rest of the country. The scooters will automatically stop working if they are driven into areas not included in the trial, such as Northolt or Southall.

It will remain illegal for e-scooters to be ridden on the pavements.

Should you witness an e-scooter being ridden on the footway, this can be reported to the operators and to the council. Each e-scooter has a unique ID number which will be labelled clearly on the vehicle. Please provide this where possible as it will help to resolve issues quicker.

To rent an e-scooter download the operators app which will be signposted on the e-scooter. All operators charge £1 to unlock the e-scooter, with charges of 15p – 20p per minute afterwards.

Councillor Deirdre Costigan, deputy leader and member for climate action said: "We are fully committed to tackling the climate crisis, cleaning our air and ensuring the borough we build is sustainable."

"This e-scooter trial is designed to give residents another active travel option when making local journeys around participating areas of the borough. Reducing our use of cars for these shorter trips is vital as we look to improve air quality for residents and reach our goal of becoming carbon neutral as a borough by 2030."

"The roll-out of e-scooters in parts of Ealing is only a trial at this stage and we will be watching closely to make sure it meets the needs of local people and businesses."

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