Since the end of March, people have been able to hire electric scooters to get around Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and Bradwell in an environmentally-friendly way, thanks to a trial designed to support a 'green restart' of local travel.
Replacing shorter-distance journeys that might otherwise be undertaken by car, e-scooters offer the potential of an affordable, reliable and sustainable means of travel, while cutting carbon emissions and pressure on public transport.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council has partnered with authorised e-scooter operator Ginger, which has initially provided 35 e-scooters and 50 parking bays (find all parking bays here). People can only use the authorised Ginger-branded scooters that are part of the official trial and must stick to the roads or cycle paths. The use of other e-scooters that are not part of the official trial remains illegal in public places.
Ginger scooters cannot go faster than 11.5 mph. The maximum national speed for scooters is in fact 15.5 mph, but the company feels that a slower speed is more suitable for pedestrian safety. They have also added a number of dismount zones (areas where the scooter is auto-limited by GPS coordinates to only move at 3.7 mph (less than walking speed)). These dismount zones are on Regent Road, Gorleston High Street, the Market Place, and on the promenade of the seafront.
There is also an automatic and enforced licence and age verification process each time a user first starts a journey. This process includes the user taking a photo of their face and a photo of the front and back of their licence. Ginger then use facial recognition technology to cross-reference the photos to ensure the service user:
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Is the same person as is pictured on the licence
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Is at least 16 years of age and
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Has a valid full or provisional driving licence. A given licence can only unlock one account on, so each user must have their own licence to start a journey
All parking bays are small and mandatory. This means users, unlike with most other trials, cannot park their scooter anywhere they like. Users can only park their scooter in these small bays. This greatly reduces the hazard parked scooters could otherwise present.
Attention was also given to the in-app and on-scooter messaging to promote safe, responsible usage - including that of helmets, respecting other road users and following the rules of the road. Ginger have a policy of deactivating users who behave antisocially on their scooters.
A small amount of service users have been banned from using the e-scooters, with a larger amount having received warnings from the company. These were all actioned by Ginger on the basis of reports from residents and other users. This trial is also being run in conjunction with the local police, who have been working with both Ginger and Great Yarmouth Borough Council.
Further government information on the e-scooter scheme can be found at:
- E-scooter trials: guidance for users - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- E-scooter trials: guidance for local areas and rental operators - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Finally, a list Q & A list provided by Great Yarmouth Borough Council can be found attached below, which should provide further information.
