Residents of an area in Bristol have complained that e-scooters are blocking pavements and elderly and disabled people are being forced into the road to get past. The e-scooters, which form part of the city's electric vehicle fleet from Tier, have been described as a “massive issue” in Hotwells.
According to one resident, who wished to remain anonymous, people are “dumping” the e-scooters anywhere they feel like, resulting in disruption. The issue is allegedly worse on Hotwells Road and Merchants Road, according to the resident. Tier has been approached for comment.
The resident said: “There is a massive scooter issue in Hotwells as people are literally dumping them anywhere. It is blocking the pavements and the app is allowing them to end the ride anywhere at all.
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“There are no parking bays and loads of children, elderly and disabled people are having to go on the road [to pass the scooters on the pavements] because Tier won't do anything about it. I've reported multiple times and they say they remove within two hours but nothing happens.”
Another resident, who also wished to be anonymous, said that the issue had been ongoing for months and is becoming worse. He said: “You can’t get a pushchair or a wheelchair down the street without going onto the road, it is so dangerous and borderline ridiculous.”
In March, e-scooters and bikes were seen blocking an entire pavement in Bedminster. The operator said at the time that it had made some changes to prevent the issue happening again, including updating the app.
Later that month, Tier announced that it would increase patrols in Bedminster in order to stop pavements being blocked. A spokesperson for Tier said at the time: "Tier are committed to ensuring parking bays do not adversely impact the streets in Bristol. We have made further small adjustments to the parking bay in question and will increase our patrols in the area to monitor compliance."
In April, a businessman was accused of holding five e-bikes ‘to ransom’ after Tier designated his car park as an official hire zone by mistake and left the e-bikes there. After the businessman discovered that Tier did not collect the e-bikes, he moved the bikes into his storage unit and started sending the company a monthly invoice.
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