An electric scooter rental service could be coming to Salford as part of a plan to curb congestion, clean the air and ease pressure on public transport.
Transport bosses are working with Salford City Council to 'explore the potential' for a trial as part of a Government pilot scheme.
Such a scheme, already popular in cities including Paris, Copenhagen and Prague, would follow in the tracks of Mobike, the bike hire firm which pulled out of the region in September 2018 due to vandalism after just 13 months.
But in a post-pandemic world where social distancing limits capacity on public transport and curbing car congestion becomes ever more important - with 60 per cent of car trips under two miles - finding cheap and easy ways to get around are key.
The council is already in contact with operators who have expressed interest in providing the service, with their proposals to be submitted to the Department for Transport.
If they are given the green light, trials will run for a year to discover how e-scooter schemes reduce congestion, improve connectivity and can be integrated with transport hubs.
Among the firms interested in bringing the new mode of transport to Salford is Lime, who have already launched an e-scooter scheme in Milton Keynes and have shared bike services in 125 cities around the world.
Their scooters reach speeds of 15mph and the service is run through an app which shows a map of scooter locations. Users scan a scooter code before riding across the city and parking it as directed by the app.
Lime has thousands of scooters in Paris which are used for short journeys of around one or two miles - and they have been proven to replace similar journeys made by car.
And bosses reckon they can guard against e-scooters suffering a similar fate to Mobikes - many of which ended up in Salford Quays.
Alan Clarke, Director of UK Policy and Government Affairs, said: "This is now a really serious transport mode.
"We can control where you can and can't use them through GPS geo-fencing so if you go into an area we can automatically reduce the power to the scooter so it comes to a stop."
He said they can also slow the scooters to walking pace in pedestrianised areas.
It's hoped such schemes will persuade people out of their cars and ease up the pressure on public transport in a time of social distancing, as well as improving air quality.
Lime, which have 400,000 current users of their e-bikes, will compete with other companies to run the Salford scheme.
Alan added: "We can use geo-fencing to direct people where to park them, so not on the pavement or next to a canal. We can control where they go and stop people pushing them into the canal.
"We pick them up and charge them overnight with renewable energy and put them back out in the morning."
Lime scooters would cost £1 to unlock and then 15p for every extra minutes - meaning a couple of miles costs £2 to £3.
He added: "The big thing is our experience, operating a shared e-bike service. I do think experience is very important, having a team of people on the ground in every single city."
A Transport for Greater Manchester spokesman said: "TfGM are currently supporting Salford City Council to explore the potential for e-scooter trials in Salford, as part of the DfT’s recently launched e-scooter hire pilot scheme. "
He added: "Salford City Council are engaging with a number of operators who have expressed an interest in trials and intend to submit proposals to DfT shortly. If successful, trials will run for 12 months and will explore how micromobility can be used to reduce congestion, improve connectivity and integration with transport hubs, and act as a steppingstone towards active travel.
"The use of privately owned e-scooters remains illegal on public land and even if trials to go ahead, only e-scooters that are hired as part of a DfT approved rental scheme will be permitted for use on non-motorway roads and bike lanes and tracks, not on the pavement."
