As if pedelecs, many of them illegally chipped, weren’t enough, there was another potential assault on a shrinking moped market this week when the Californian electric scooter business Bird launched a pilot service on London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
It is illegal to ride powered scooters on public roads or pavements in the UK but Bird hopes to build momentum towards getting the law changed, so that it can start a commercial operation on London’s streets within 12 months.
The company, which operates in around 40 American cities, believes that its pilot scheme – on private land – will demonstrate the usefulness of this hop on, hop off form of transport and its environmental benefits.
The scooters are unlocked with an app, and will only be available between 07:00 and 21:00.
They will then be collected and charged overnight, and Bird says that will mean that the problems with theft, vandalism – and late-night drunks – which have afflicted some bike-sharing schemes, will be avoided.