LONDON — Starting from June 7, Londoners will officially be allowed to whizz around on an electric kick scooter.
City transport regulators said Tuesday that a handful of e-scooter rental firms had been selected to run trials in the U.K. capital next month.
The operators include U.S. start-up Lime, German firm Tier and Dutch rival Dott, Transport for London (TfL) said. The pilot will last for 12 months.
Areas covered by the trials include Ealing, Canary Wharf, the City of London, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Richmond upon Thames.
Riders will be able to travel through — but not start or end trips in — Tower Hamlets. The London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark are also looking to participate in the trials.
Rental pricing will be set individually by the operators and has not yet been confirmed.
Post-lockdown travel
The British government first announced plans to speed up the rollout of e-scooter rental trials across the country last year.
The move was viewed as part of a wider effort to get Brits out and about again post-lockdown with electric bikes and scooters, using a healthier and environmentally-friendly alternative to cars and public transport.
In the U.K., the electric kick scooter is classified as a PLEV, or Personal