Pilot e-scooter project mooted for Mayo

A PILOT e-scooter project for Mayo has been mooted at a strategic roads committee meeting.

Representatives of Bird, who operate shared public e-scooters across the globe, gave members of the council committee an overview of what is achievable in Mayo towns.

Bird e-scooters offer safe, affordable and sustainable transport. While the use of e-scooters in public spaces is currently illegal in Ireland, legislation is expected to change that this summer.

Tristan Mak, senior operations associate, explained how scooters are placed in public areas and are accessed via an app, to allow you begin your journey.

Local teams collect, charge and repair the scooters and deploy them on the streets in parking 'nests'. The range from one charge is 30 to 40 kilometres.

Working with the council, is it possible within a town to have areas where their use is not permitted. It is also possible to reduce their speed within designated areas - slow zones - such as near schools or on the main street.

Bird, said Mr. Mak, have a rider education programme and when signing up you must undertake a safety tutorial. Unsafe behaviour brings with it warnings and, if necessary, a ban on using them.

UK and Ireland general manager, Charlotte Bailey, responding to councillor queries, said Bird are fully responsible for insurance.

The scooters are not charged on the street, but are taken to a service centre where they are maintained, charged and redeployed. They will not unlock for a new user if the battery is below 15%.

On price, she said there is a €1 unlocking fee and then it's 15 cents per minute.

Most journeys cost €2-€3. Bird also offer a range of discount initiatives.

The mandatory use of helmets was an issue flagged by Councillor Damien Ryan who also said some of the infrastructure in our towns would not lend itself to them being rolled out at large.

Councillor Richard Finn was of the view that if the council didn't embrace the idea the county would be left behind. There was an opportunity here, he said.

Some of the opportunities that exist were highlighted by Councillor Cyril Burke. In Castlebar, for example, you could take an e-scooter when going from the train station to the Mall or Lough Lannagh.

Castlebar, he suggested, would be a good place to trial it. Councillor Ryan, cathaoirleach, agreed a pilot scheme would be the way to roll it out.