More than 7,000 journeys have been made on e-scooters on the Isle of Wight since their introduction in November — travelling a total of 571 times around the Island.
Not all people have been accepting of the new scheme with the Isle of Wight Council saying it has receiving a few complaints.
Ward: Very little feedback from the public
Cllr Ian Ward, council cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, said the scooters were introduced around the time people were buying private ones and people were unable to tell the difference between the two.
He said,
“It seemed like a lot [of complaints] at the time, but it has all died away now. There is very little feedback from the public … but it was a bit hairy at the beginning.
“It was something new that people weren’t used to, so looked for reasons we shouldn’t do it.
“The novelty has worn off now and you are probably only getting the serious user.”
40,000 miles travelled
In total, almost 40,000 miles have been travelled on the e-scooters with 95 per cent of journeys finishing in the allocated bays.
The launch started with 25 e-scooters in Newport and has now expanded to Ryde, Cowes and East Cowes, with a total of 99 scooters.
The numbers of the for-hire e-scooters is expected to rise to 150.
Despite initial concerns the vehicles would be damaged, the numbers are said to be very low.
Auto slow and stop
Rider corridors have been implemented on the main routes in and between towns and if riders stray off the routes the scooters will slow down and eventually stop.
Similar e-scooter trials are now set to be rolled out across Southampton and Portsmouth and are already happening in Bournemouth.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by News OnTheWight. Ed
