A councillor in Bristol has called for metro mayor Dan Norris and the West of England Combined Authority to ‘hold Dott to account’, after the mobility firm hiked the cost of using their e-bike and e-scooter hire scheme by more than a third overnight.
City councillor Toby Wells, who is also on the combined authority scrutiny committee, said the price rises which sparked such controversy last week, were imposed with ‘no communication and no justification’.
Cllr Wells (Green, Knowle ) said he is an almost daily user of the e-scooter hire scheme, and is already out of pocket after the sudden price rises – which happened just days after the firm’s chief executive visited Bristol, met with WECA leaders and told Bristol Live the best thing about his firm running the scheme was how cheap it was for riders.
The e-scooter hire scheme has been running in Bristol, Bath and the West of England area for four years, with contracts given out to a single company by the West of England Combined Authority and metro mayor Dan Norris.
WECA made the controversial decision to switch from Swedish firm Voi to a company called Tier a year ago, but earlier this autumn, Tier were taken over by French firm Dott in a merger.
Dott immediately scrapped the long term rental part of the scheme, which enabled people hire an e-scooter for a month at a time and keep it for themselves, and last week, they suddenly lifted the basic cost of hiring a scooter or e-bike from 16p per minute to 22p per minute, a rise of 37.5 per cent.
Monthly passes were also changed and the cost for regular users went up from around £6 a month to £10 a month and £1.50 for every ride.
That came just days after Dott chief executive Henri Moisinac extolled the virtues of its affordable pricing scheme to Bristol Live – which had one pass that meant riders could use scooters or e-bikes for just £1 a ride.
A spokesperson for Dott described the price rise a ‘pricing adjustment’. “We’re always exploring new pricing options to ensure the service is both affordable and sustainable,” he said.
“In this pricing adjustment, we want to promote the Dott Pro pass, which makes the service more affordable for regular users. With this pass, each ride will cost you less than a single bus ticket.
“This simple, fixed pricing makes it easy for users to know how much they will be charged before their trip, removing any unexpected surprises from pay-per-minute fees. And by charging per trip rather than per minute, riders are encouraged to travel safely, instead of rushing their journey to save costs. Our pricing offer is now: Dott Pro: £9.99/month for unlimited rides at a fixed price = £1.5/ride, Pay as you go: £1 to unlock + £0.22 per minute.”
Riders can also get a ‘two rides pass’ – the equivalent of a return ticket – which gives two rides of up to 20 minutes each over any 24 hour period for £3.99.
Last week, Mr Moissinac told Bristol Live how affordable he thought Dott’s previous offers were in Bristol and Bath.
He said last week, about the change from Voi and Tier to Dott: “I think the service is a lot more affordable. So today, you can ride with passes you can ride for £1 a ride. I just got an espresso and the espresso was £2.80, so I can almost do three rides on Dott for the cost of one espresso, not even sitting down.”
But that has left Cllr Wells furious, saying now the West of England Combined Authority should step in. “The eScooters and eBikes in Bristol are used by thousands of people every day, allowing them to get around conveniently and sustainably,” he said.
“Since Dott took over Tier, the level of service has degraded and prices have gone up without warning. First, the ‘long term rental’ scooters were removed with 24 hours notice, and users are still waiting to hear when they will come back.
“Now the prices, which were already higher than Tier’s, have gone up by 37.5 per cent with no communication and no justification. As a regular, almost daily, user, I was already worse off since Dott took over, and now it’s going up even more.
“Having the exclusive contract to operate hire bikes and scooters in our city is a privilege, not a right, and I sincerely hope that WECA is going to hold Dott to account, so that we can have an affordable and reliable micromobility service for the people of Bristol.
“As a member of the WECA Scrutiny Committee, I have written to the Director of Infrastructure to seek urgent clarity on this matter,” he added.