What’s happened to the Triangle Voi e-scooter dock? One minute there it was, and the next, there it very much wasn’t.
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The structure, which came in May to the former tardis toilet site, is thought to have been removed over the weekend.
As far as we’ve discovered, it probably hasn’t been “taken for scrap” - as one reader mooted on our Facebook page - but rather its removal is part of a trial of “different parking methods”.
A spokesperson for e-scooter company Voi said:"In order to meet demand and ensure the safest and most convenient parking options are available in Southampton, Voi and the local council are currently trialling different parking methods, including virtual mandatory parking zones where users need to end their rides."
The Triangle stop still apparently appears on the Voi map, people still seem to be using the space for parking scooters (pretty neatly, this morning), and the theory seems to concur with another reader comment: Catherine Carey said: “In Bristol they don’t have docks at all, just parking zones on the map. I think the parking docks were initially installed to teach us where we’re allowed to park. Now they may be taken to set up a new city?”
The scooter scheme itself is part of a twelve-month Department for Transport regional trial which began on the Isle of Wight in November 2020.
Under the heading “How long will e-scooters be in Southampton?” a council FAQ from July [pdf] says: “The e-scooter trial will launch on 18 March 2021 and should remain active until November 2021.”
Voi told us: "The ... trial started in March 2021 as an opportunity to provide local residents and visitors with a safe, sustainable and affordable way to move around the city, as well as helping tackle air pollution and congestion. So far, there have been over 219,000 rides on Voi scooters in Southampton, travelling more than 630,000km, replacing an estimated 90,000 short car journeys.
“As the trial progresses, Voi and Southampton City Council work closely to ensure more residents can benefit from fewer cars, cleaner air and convenient, flexible transport solutions. Updates on the trial will be communicated in due course.”