50 electric bikes added to Voi trial in Northampton will be available from later this month

Electric bikes will soon be available for hire in Northampton as part of a Voi trial across the town.

From Monday March 27, there will be 50 e-bikes available in the town, as part of the same controversial trial scheme for e-scooters, run by Voi.

The scheme says e-bike users should be aged 16 or over and do not need a UK driving licence - unlike e-scooters where riders should be 18 or older and must have a provisional or full UK driving licence.

Voi e-bikes are already available in Kettering as well as Cambridge and Liverpool.

Councillor Phil Larratt, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste at West Northamptonshire Council, added: “We’re delighted that Northampton will become one of four locations to have the innovative e-bikes, offering a sustainable way for people to travel.

“We will continue to work with Voi to ensure the safety of riders, pedestrians and motorists, and ensure both e-scooters and e-bikes provide a safe and sustainable way for people to get from A to B.”

The company’s e-scooters launched in Northampton - the first location in the UK - in September 2020. Since then, Voi says more than 21 millions rides have been taken, across the country.

In Northampton, whilst many residents have embraced the new sustainable and accessible means of transport, concerns have been raised surrounding the safety of the scooters.

Complaints included e-scooters being ridden on pavements, under-age riders, scooters being left in hazardous places and dangerous riding on roads.

The e-bikes will operate in a similar way to the e-scooter scheme. People can find the nearest bike using the app, scan a QR code to unlock a bike and then end the ride at the end of their journey, sending a photo to show the bike is correctly parked.

GPS technology is used to define the operating area, and the app clearly shows where bikes can and cannot be parked.

Jim Hubbard, senior public policy manager for Voi UK, said: “We’re delighted to be adding to Northampton’s green transport mix.

“E-bikes nicely complement our existing e-scooters in town, providing people more choice.

“We have found that e-bike journeys tend to be longer than those taken by e-scooter, and that riders value the front basket where they can keep their belongings.

“Like our e-scooters, our e-bikes are easy to use, affordable, reliable and sustainable.”

Anyone can report inconsiderate riding or parking using the online tool: report.voi.com.

Voi advises e-bike cyclists and e-scooter riders to wear helmets for each journey. Riders can use day or monthly passes to ride both e-scooters and e-bikes.

Since the beginning of the scheme a number of road traffic collisions have involved Voi scooters, two deaths have been linked to the scheme and there have been complaints about scooters ‘snapping’.

In December, North and West Northamptonshire Councils agreed to the extension of the e-scooter trial to May 2024 on the condition that additional safety measures are introduced.

West Northamptonshire Council has been asked for the start date of the trial.