The Government has announced that rental e-scooters will be legal from Saturday with a maximum speed of 15.5 MPH. Local Councils will be able to trial and run 12 month trial schemes.  Fifty local Authorities have expressed an interest in being part of the trials with Middlesborough being the first from the 4^th July.  E-scooters. have the potential to be real alternative to short car journeys which can clog up many of the City’s streets.

Cllr Tim Huggan, Lib Dem Shadow Cabinet member for the Environment said ‘The  City Council must use this opportunity to role out as soon as possible trial schemes with enhanced active travel schemes to get people out of cars and give them the widest range of non-polluting  travel options in the city.’

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed added ‘During my time in Brussels, e-scooters were seen as a viable environmentally friendly option and were widely used across that city.  I saw the benefits of e-scooters as part of a wider solution to helping meet global carbon reduction targets.  As a group, the Lib Dems have been pushing for the legalisation of e-scooters as part of a full package of measures to get people out of their cars and onto the streets safely.   The City Council must grasp this opportunity quickly and without delay.’