Dublin's E-Scooters: Issues, Concerns and Opportunities

E-scooters get plenty of good and (mainly) bad press in Dublin. Many people worry that they are a danger to pedestrians or to the users themselves. But they are continuing to grow in popularity and as a fast, cheap and (somewhat) sustainable way to get around the city, they have a role to play in the future of Dublin's transport. Here I've tried to address some of the questions and concerns I frequently hear about them and what the Government and Council can/should do next.

E-scooters are by no means a silver bullet for sustainable transport in Dublin. They offer several advantages but also have many limitations. So it is important to look at their potential in the context of the wider changes that we need to see for Dublin’s transport system to work efficiently - much better public transport including buses, trains, metros, trams etc. and a network of segregated bike lanes to accommodate all forms of micro-mobility (e.g. bikes, trikes, e-scooters, electric wheelchairs).

Opportunities

• E-scooters offer a lot of potential for the last mile of a commute. For example, if you are arriving into Dublin from Heuston, its not always easy to take a bike on the train. But a scooter is easier to transport and can be a very efficient way of getting into the city centre along the quays, avoiding the traffic and delays associated.
• They offer big potential for shift workers or those working at hours or in locations not easily served by public transport. For those who don’t want the physical exertion of cycling on their commute particularly, they can be very handy.
• For migrant workers, they are a handy alternative to the costly process of getting a driving licence in Ireland.
• Environmentally, we have an ambition to cut transport emissions in Dublin by 51% by 2030. This will not be achieved unless we explore every viable alternative to cars.
• Finally, while Dublin remains one of the most congested cities in the world, they will always be an attractive way of cutting through the city’s traffic quickly and in reliable time.

Limitations

• Scooters are very unlikely to ever be a useful way of parenting without a car. The forthcoming legislation is likely to set an age limit of 16 on using e-scooters so they are of very limited value to parents of young children.
• Research show that ridership around Europe tends to be around 70% male and half of users are under 34. There are multiple reasons for this including journeys with children, risk adversity, lack of infrastructure and lifestyle patterns. The result, however, is that not everyone benefits equally from their usage.
• Where e-scooters are made with cheap parts, they can require a lot of replacement and maintenance, including the batteries which significantly decreases the environmental benefits of a their low emissions
• Research shows that just 10-30% of escooter journeys, so far, are replacing car journeys. The remainder are replacing journeys that would largely otherwise have been made by foot or bicycle.
• Finally, no form of micro-mobility, including e-scooters or bicycles, will be widely taken up until proper infrastructure is in place to allow people to feel safe using the streets.

Forthcoming legislation

There is legislation coming through the Oireachtas to regulate for e-scooters. Up until now, despite being common on our streets they have not been covered by any existing legislation and therefore very difficult to impose proper rules or conditions on. The legislation is expected to be in place in the Spring of 2023 to allow the Minister to set rules for their use including, age limits (expected to be 16), speed limit (expected to be 20kph), wheel size for safety reasons, battery type for environmental reasons, and importantly banning them from footpaths for pedestrian safety.

The Future of Scooter Sharing in Dublin

Dublin City Council, in collaboration with the other Dublin local authorities, is expected to introduce a scooter sharing scheme, similar to the Bleeper or Moby bikes that are widespread around the city at the moment. One of the major concerns about introducing this kind of scheme is ensuring there is a safe, and enforced, system for parking e-scooters. Other European cities such as Paris, Brussels and Copenhagen introduced very liberal e-scooter schemes originally with little or no rules around parking. The result of this was scooters lying across footpaths and creating a trip hazard, most especially for those with added physical vulnerabilities or vision impairment. In Dublin, I am very keen that we avoid this by having strict conditions around parking. Many e-scooter companies have impressive technology to ensure that scooters cannot be used or parked on footpaths and I hope that this will be a key requirement of any scheme in the city. The details of any e-scooter sharing scheme will be discussed more widely once the legislation is in place.

Listen Back

If you made it this far in this piece and still want to know more about the topic, then you can listen back to a recent debate (21/02/2023) that I participated in on Today with Claire Byrne on the issues that e-scooters present. https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22215848/. As always, if you have any other questions or concerns, get in touch!