A North East council have confirmed they have replaced their old e-scooter provider with a new operator.

Sunderland City Council have awarded a contract to e-scooter company, Zwings, after previous operator, Neuron Mobility, confirmed they had not renewed their contract.

Neuron announced in a statment last week they had not renewed their contract with Sunderland City Council, and their 18-month stint in the city would end on 30 November.

Sunderland City Council have said their e-scooters scheme will continue to run until 2024, and were delighted to be working with Zwings.

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The Northern Echo:

Claire Rowntree, Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council and Cabinet Member for Clean Green City, said: "Newer, greener and low-carbon transport is important for all of us and we have welcomed working with previous trial operator Neuron and we wish them well.

"I am delighted that we have been able to move quickly to appoint Zwings so that residents and visitors can continue to enjoy the benefits of low carbon travel.


"We have a City Plan for a more dynamic, healthy and vibrant Sunderland, and low carbon transport is a big part of this."

Meanwhile, Sunderland City Council said their scheme had seen thousands of people use the devices, with 40 per cent of trips replacing car journeys and saved on 18 tonnes of CO2.

They added the journeys have seen seen 170,000 miles travelled, with over 20,000 unique riders in the area.

Additionally, the council said residents can expect the orange colour scheme of Neuron e-scooters to be replaced with the sky blue of Zwings by the beginning of December, when the changeover occurs.

The Northern Echo:

The new operator will initially launch with 100 e-scooters during the winter and the scheme is expected to more than double in size in 2023.

Explaining their decision to not renew their contract, Neuron said the trial was no longer financially viable.

They said increasing energy costs as a result of the current cost of living crisis, as well as a number of other factors, contributed to their decision.

Adding to this, Neuron passes are no longer on sale, while existing passes will remain valid until the end of November, and the company will reimburse passes which have not been fully redeemed.

The Department for Transport trial has been running since November 2020 and raising awareness of environmentally friendly alternatives to the private car.

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The Northern Echo:

In a statement today, Stephen Bee, Chief Operating Officer at Zwings, said: "Zwings are excited to launch our e-scooters in such a vibrant city as Sunderland.

"We aim to enable more people to switch away from car usage and towards a smaller form of transport with lower carbon emissions.

"The e-scooter scheme in Sunderland will be designed with the scheme users and the wider community in mind and delivered in partnership with Sunderland City Council."

Zwings has operated e-scooter schemes across the UK, including successful trials in Cheltenham, Gloucester, and Yeovil.

They were recently acquired by Zeus Mobility Group who operate in over 30 cities across the world.

Neuron have confimed they will continue to operate as normal in Newcastle, and thanked the people of Sunderland for their support.

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