Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to enable the use of e-scooters on roads.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department is preparing regulations that will enable trials of rental e-scooters to begin. Trials will gather evidence of the safety of e-scooters and the impacts they have on the road. This will inform any future legislation for e-scooters and other micromobility vehicles. The Department recently consulted on proposed rules for e-scooter use that will be contained in the regulations and is working with local authorities to allow trials to begin soon.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to extend the remit of the rental e-scooter trial scheme to include the use of privately purchased e-scooters.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
E-scooter trials will include only rental scooters. This allows trials to take place in a controlled manner while we assess their safety and other impacts. There are a wide range of e-scooters available, built to differing standards. Limiting trials to rental scooters ensures that only approved scooters are used, and that they can meet legal requirements. It will also improve the quality of the evidence we gather, that will inform whether e-scooters should be fully legalised.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the rail franchise system.
Answered by Claire Perry
We continuously monitor a range of indicators, including performance figures and passenger satisfaction. Rail use is at its highest level since the 1920s: 1.65 billion passenger journeys were made in Great Britain on franchised passenger trains in 2014-15. The number of journeys made on the rail network has more than doubled since the introduction of the franchise system.