Council looking at e-scooter rental scheme

Newly introduced legislation will frame how a council-run electric scooters and e-bikes rental scheme for Cavan Town might operate in the future.

New regulations, first published last month, mean that e-scooters can be legally used on public roads only if they meet the technical and usage requirements for the category.

That includes rules that users must be aged 16 years or older; must not carry passengers or goods; and obey a speed limit of 20 kilometres per hour.

Powerful e-mopeds may need vehicle registration and, in some cases, be licensed and even insured.

“At present Cavan County Council is monitoring the new legislation and will engage further with e-bike suppliers in due course,” said a spokesperson for Cavan County Council when asked for an update on a situation first floated as far back as November 2022.

The local authority had, at that stage, been in contact with several operators of e-scooter/bike schemes, but was waiting for the new legislation to be finalised first.

Modern, carbon-friendly modes of transport that can be used on public roads, a senior council executive member said, are “part of the overall jigsaw” and an “essential element” in terms of promoting the council’s Active Travel Programme to a much wider audience.

Security and parking of e-scooters and e-bikes, issues deemed problematic in other jurisdictions where schemes are already operating, would be “addressed” as part of the overall support infrastructure, said Director of Services, Paddy Connaughton.

“We feel the county town has the scale to build a scheme of this nature out, and we have had a number of communications with UK-based companies that are willing to set up a scheme here, so we’re positive about the direction being taken,” he said.

The council spokesperson said the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023, which introduced legal categories for light electric vehicles into Irish legislation, and sets out the regulations for their use, was an “important step” towards improving the safety of “other road users, as well as the vehicle users themselves”.