TIER to end e-scooter and e-bike trial in York

City of York Council has been informed that TIER do not wish to extend their contract, thereby taking the decision to end its e-scooter and e-bike trial in York.

The trial was part of the Department for Transport micro-mobility trial and has been operating since September 2020 in York.

The TIER service in York will end on 31 May 2024.

The trial monitored and collected information regarding the use of hired e-scooters and e-bikes across the city to inform the creation of national guidelines.

York service users have clocked up over 820,000 miles, with over half a million journeys taken by nearly 60,000 users.

The council has not funded the service, and only lead on selecting the operator for the city.

Since the trial launched in 2020, with an initial service area including York Hospital and the University of York, it has since been extended and rolled out across the city.

It is not legal to ride a private e-scooter on the highway now and this will remain illegal when the trial ends.

Cllr Pete Kilbane, Executive Member for Economy and Transport at City of York Council, said:

“Participating in the Department for Transport trial enabled York to gain valuable insight into the use of e-scooters and e-bikes, and how we might look to make these permanent sustainable transport options in future.

“We’ve had an excellent partnership working with TIER over the years, and we’d like to thank them for working on the trial here in York.

“We’re disappointed TIER have decided to withdraw from York, but we know the findings will be prove insightful for the Department for Transport for the creation of their national guidelines and call on the Government for clarity about e-scooter legislation. The temporary government legislation for the trials are still in place, so we are in discussion with the Department for Transport about the options we have for a new operator to run an e-scooter trials in York”.

The council is having discussions with other providers, but there are no further updates on this at this stage.