E-scooters: Experimental Traffic Regulation Order

Overview

As part of the Emergency Birmingham Transport Plan and through available funding from the Government’s Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF), we have made a number of changes to enable people to travel safely and  sustainably during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government has permitted trials of e-scooter hire schemes, and has changes to the rules on where it is legal to use them. The e-scooters are allowed on the roads with speed limits of 30mph or less and in cycle lanes.

Please note, it remains illegal to use a privately owned e-scooter anywhere other than on private land.

Birmingham's trial e-scooter hire scheme is run by Voi. It currently operates in the city centre only, and we are planning to extend that soon to include area to the north and south of the city centre, equivalent to our A34 and A38 blue cycle routes, allowing people to reach key destinations by e-scooter, including:

• The University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Harborne High Street, and Selly Oak and University train stations to the south west;
• Perry Barr, Aston Park, Handsworth Park, Lozells high street, and Birmingham City Hospital to the north.

About the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order

To do this, we need to make changes to a number of Trafic Regulation Orders (the legal paperwork process for changes to the streets) to:

• convert 'cycle tracks' to 'cycle lanes’ to allow e-scooter use.
• amend various ‘pedestrian zones’ and bus only roads to allow e-scooters use similar to pedal cycles.

The above changes will not physically alter the infrastructure, but will make legal the use of Department for Transport approved Voi scooters as part of the Transport for West Midlands run trial.

As a the e-scooter hire is a temporary, trial scheme, we are using an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO). Under this, formal consultation takes place during the first six months that the order is in place.

During this consultation, you can make comments on the proposals or submit a formal objection (which must include the grounds for the objection). You can either make your response via this webpage (please provide your contact details as part of your response) or can post a written objection to Assistant Director - Transport & Connectivity, Inclusive Growth Directorate, 1 Lancaster Circus Queensway, PO Box 14439, Birmingham B2 2JE.

If you have chosen to object to the proposed orders, you may be contacted by a project officer to further discuss your objection.

Future consultation

If the scheme is to be made permanent, we would also need (as a minimum) to hold a consultation on a new, permanent TRO. It is possible for this to happen during the six month consultation on the ETRO, or after it.

ETRO details