Nottingham City Council has announced the re-launch of e-scooters across the city.
Dott has been chosen to operate the e-scooter scheme in Nottingham, offering a greener travel option to help take cars off our roads and improve air quality.
The striking blue and red e-scooters are approved by the Department for Transport (DfT) and are used in other UK cities such as Bristol and Milton Keynes. The e-scooters are expected to be on the streets in early spring 2025 and will join e-bikes already available to hire.
Around 1,300 e-scooters will be available to hire from approximately 300 mandatory parking locations across the city.
Key lessons around parking have been learnt from previous e-scooter trials. Using money from the Transforming Cities Fund, the council has recently installed 275 racks for e-bikes and e-scooters to help signpost and improve parking. In addition, the original e-scooter parking spots have all been audited and reviewed, and those not meeting the council’s parking criteria will not be reactivated in the new scheme.
The e-scooters will have pay-as-you-go pricing, with no unlock fee and costing 29p per minute to ride. There are several pass options available, such as £2.99 a month for unlimited £2 rides. Discounts will also be offered to key groups such as NHS workers, people on low incomes, and students.
Dott will provide many education and training options for first-time riders, including a mandatory onboarding quiz, tutorials on the app, a beginner’s mode (reducing vehicle speed for the first three rides), and regular in-person training events led by trained experts.
There will be a transparent user disciplinary process, so any riders found breaking the rules will be given fines. 24/7 customer support will be available via in-app reporting, chatbots, email, social media, and a free phone number.
The e-scooters will be fitted with technology so they won’t operate outside Nottingham City Council boundaries. This also enables the council to create ‘low speed’ or ‘no-go’ zones. Nottingham is one of many cities trialling e-scooters, and learning made in the city will be used to plan the smooth integration of e-scooters into cities around the UK, if they are legalised in the future.
The government’s e-scooter trial is due to end in May 2026. The e-scooters can be used on roads, cycle lanes, carriageways, and other areas where cycling is permitted, but not on pavements. Anyone wanting to hire an e-scooter must be over 18 years old and hold at least a provisional driving licence.
Nottingham City Council Leader and Executive Member for Strategic Regeneration, Transport and Communications, Councillor Neghat Khan, said: “We are thrilled that e-scooters are returning to Nottingham, providing a convenient, sustainable, and affordable transport option. By offering an alternative to car journeys, e-scooters will play a key role in easing congestion and lowering harmful emissions in our city. This aligns with our commitment to improving air quality and promoting greener travel for all our residents and visitors.”
• How to hire a Dott e-scooter in Nottingham as new scheme goes ahead
Peadar Golden, UK General Manager at Dott, said: “We are very excited to work with Nottingham City Council to provide another efficient and sustainable transport solution to get people out of their cars. As a responsible operator, Dott is bringing its experience from more than 400 cities to ensure its service is carefully integrated into the city, offering safety and reliability for riders together with orderly streets for pedestrians.”
