This is where you’ll be able to travel on Sunderland’s new e-scooters ahead of their launch

A 12-month long trial of e-scooters will begin in Sunderland on Wednesday, March 31 in an effort to provide ‘safe, socially-distanced and environmentally-friendly transport’.

The trial will be operated by Neuron Mobility in partnership with Sunderland City Council and will see 300 distinctive orange e-scooters deployed across the city for members of the public to use.

This is everything you need to know about how the scooters work and where you can go ahead of the trial:

Where can I go using the scooters?

The e-scooters work using a ‘geofence’ meaning that if you go out of bounds while riding, they will deactivate until you’re back within the boundaries.

On the south side of the River Wear, the active zone for the e-scooters runs from Sunderland Royal Hospital, through the outskirts of Millfield and into Sunderland city centre.

For the north side of the River Wear, the active ride zone covers most of Roker and Seaburn and runs up to the Sea Lane junction on Whitburn Bents Road, meaning that the city’s main beaches are covered by the trial.

Where will the e-scooters be located?

There are 28 locations across the ride zones titled ‘preferred parking zones’ where you can begin and end trips on the e-scooters.

Riders who end their trips at these locations will secure a coupon to entitle them to money off future journeys.

Each Tyne and Wear Metro station within the ride zone will feature a ‘preferred parking’ location, meaning those using the existing public transport system will have the option to continue their journey on the electric scooters.

How do the e-scooters work?

The electric scooters run on rechargeable battery power, meaning they emit zero emissions into the environment when they are in operation.

Riders who are over 18 and hold a full or provisional driving licence are able to book and use the e-scooters through the ‘Neuron – Escooter Sharing’ app which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

The scooters will only be active from 5am until 11pm, with rides free between 5am and 9am to promote eco-friendly commuting.

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