e-scooter trial

We are taking part in an e-scooter hire trial with Essex County Council and e-scooter company, dott.

This means you can now hire an e-scooter to get you around Chelmsford City Centre. Only e-scooters hired through the trial are legal.

Our aim is to provide a socially-distanced and safe way for people to travel, that reduces the number of short car journeys made.

How to hire an e-scooter

To hire an e-scooter, you will need to download the app. This also shows you where the nearest e-scooter is. There are now up to 500 e-scooters available, across a number of city centre locations.

Privately owned scooters

All privately owned e-scooters (most of which are plain black) remain illegal to use on public roads and land, and are not insured.

Illegal e-scooters are a police matter, so you will need to call 101 to report an incident.

You can ride an e-scooter:

on roads that have a 30mph speed limit (or less)
along cycle paths, including in parks
in most places in the city

You cannot ride an e-scooter on:

the pavement
pedestrianised areas, including on pedestrian-only paths in parks and open spaces
major roads over 30 mph

No-go zones

To make sure all road users are safe, there are some other areas where you are not allowed to ride. These are no-go zones.

In the city centre, the no-go zones include:

High Street
Moulsham Street, from Parkway to Stone Bridge
Cathedral grounds and Church Lane
High Chelmer and The Meadows
Springfield Road, from High Street to Bond Street
Bell Meadow (pedestrian only path)
Cannon Mews and Park Road (the pedestrian-only southern half)
pedestrian-only paths in Central Park

Within the central zone, you must park e-scooters in a designated parking spot, as shown on the app.

Outside the central zone, you can park e-scooters where it is convenient, as long as it is sensible, such as at a bus stop or neatly outside your house.

You need to make sure the e-scooter does not block the pavement or cause any other obstruction. There are penalties for bad parking.

After you record the end of your journey via the app, other riders or operations staff will collect the e-scooter and return it to a designated hire location.

All e-scooters available for hire are shown on the app, wherever they are.

To hire a scooter, you need to:

be 18 or over, and
have a provisional or full driving licence

dott will provide compulsory in-app training and safety advice before you can hire. This will include reading advice, confirming the terms and conditions, and completing some questions. You will have insurance through the trial.

You must follow the Highway Code at all times, and park safely and sensibly at the end of your ride. We want to ensure people can enjoy hiring an e-scooter, while keeping it safe for everyone.

You can recognise dott's e-scooters by their teal-coloured branding. They have lights and reflectors, brakes, indicators, a bell, and an integrated stand.

We will continue to review the trial to make sure everything is running correctly.

You can find out more, or report a safety issue via:

You can report an illegal e-scooter to the police on 101.

Essex Highways has opened a public consultation on a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO), which would allow for the expansion of the existing e-scooter trial. The proposed expansion would include Chelmsford Garden Community in the existing trial and allow access to new facilities such as the new railway station (due for completion next year).

The extension proposed includes two existing strategic sites, known as Beaulieu and Channels, and the strategic sites immediately to the north allocated with our Local Plan.

You can find more information about the proposed expansion and instructions for how to submit comments on the Essex Highways website , under reference TRAF/8477.

The consultation closes on Friday 13 December 2024.

You can also find general information on the current trial in Chelmsford.