The West of England’s e-bike and e-scooter rental scheme has seen record usage in the region, ahead of the release of a tender to continue and expand the micromobility service beyond 2027.
Across the region, weekly e-bike and e-scooter journeys topped 100,000 on multiple occasions in July, helping drive the scheme past the milestone of 16 million trips since its launch in 2020. Increased demand has been fuelled by discount schemes offering cheapertravel, 24/7 access, and a new fleet of lighter, more user-friendly vehicles.
The number of places that people can reach using the rental scheme has been boosted with more journey areas over the last year. Several parts of SouthGloucestershire, including a trial service expansion into Yateand Chipping Sodbury; SouthBath; and for the first time, a section of the historic Bristol and Bath Railway Path have been added during that time.
The expansion last year coincided with the introduction of the ScootSafe safety campaign by Mayor Helen Godwin and Police & Crime Commissioner Clare Moody, working alongside new enhanced enforcement measures. User fines for incorrect parking have helped drive improved behaviour,with irresponsible parking now accounting for just 0.7% of trips – down from 2.4% of journeys when the campaign started. From August 2025 to July 2026, more than 34,000 fines were issued in total.
After introducing an additional 600 weekly journeys to the service, the successful trial in Yate and Chipping Sodbury is now being extended until July 2027. After then, it will become a permanent part of the scheme with the support of South GloucestershireCouncil.
With the existing contract for operating the rental scheme ending in 2027, the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority is beginning a competitive procurement process for its next operator contract. An Invitation to Tender has today been issued to securethe best possible service for residents and visitors. Prospective operators will be required to undertake a fair and robust evaluation process to determine the best fit for the region.
The region’s rental e-scooters scheme forms part of the Government’s national e-scooter trial, which is gathering evidence on their safety, benefits and wider impacts to help inform future legislation. The trial is currently due to run until May 2028. The e-bikehire scheme operates independently.
Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:
“It’s clear from the passenger numbers that many people across the West of England value this service. And even those of us who don’t use the e-scooters have seen an improvement due to enhanced enforcement helping to strike a better balance over the lastyear.
“Our region’s rental scheme is now in a much stronger place as a result of Scoot Safe: supporting thousands of sustainable journeys each day, helping people get around conveniently while encouraging everyone who uses our streets to travel and park responsibly.
“Active travel and things like e-bikes for shorter journeys are important, alongside our much bigger planned investment in better buses, more trains, and mass transit – thanks to us securing record transport funding from the government.”
Councillor Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council; Councillor Tony Dyer, Deputy Mayor of the West of England and Leader of Bristol City Council; Councillor Maggie Tyrrell, Leader of South Gloucestershire Council, and Councillor Ian Boulton,Co-Leader of South Gloucestershire Council, said in a joint statement:
“Since the start of the regional trial in 2020, we’ve seen how much the rental service has grown to become a regular part of our everyday transport mix, helping residents make quick, convenient journeys and connect easily with other forms of public transport.
“We welcome the start of a new contract process to secure the future of the service, ensuring that thousands of users can continue to enjoy the convenience and affordability of e-scooters and e-bikes through 2027 and beyond.”
