Source: Fluctuo EU Weekly Recap

Transport for London (TfL) published its Phase 3 e-scooter tender towards the end of February 2026, offering the opportunity for up to two operators to be active across 11 boroughs, for a period that extends potentially to September 2032. The latest tender and its stipulations can be seen as demonstrating the requirements for UK-wide legislation.

Micromobility enablement company Fluctuo has examined the details of the TfL tender, and assessed how, with the UK remaining without permanent e-scooter legislation, the London model could be used as a blueprint for national regulations.

Where it started

The first UK shared e-scooter trials commenced in 2020, and the London scheme was launched in June 2021, initially as a one-year experiment. In the intervening period, the Department for Transport (DfT) has extended the national trial framework a total of five times, with the latest extension due to end in May 2028. The repeated extensions have prompted much discussion among shared e-scooter operators, with them highlighting that the lack of national legislation is hampering investment and, in turn, the flourishing of sustainable shared transport.

Why the latest London tender matters

The shared e-scooter story in the capital city is one of success. There have been 7 million trips since its launch, with 2 million of those in the last year, showing a 54% year-on-year increase. On average, there were 1.5 trips per vehicle, with a high of 2 per vehicle in the summer.

The Phase 3 tender includes several stipulations which dictate how the operators must act:

• Operators bear the full revenue risk, with their own fares.
• Safety accounts for 45% of the total evaluation score, with strict minimum thresholds for each question. A precedent has been set by the TfL Phase 2 results, with serious injuries in only 0.0007% of trips and zero fatalities.
• The Service Level Agreement (SLA) framework has high requirements: Fleet availability (a minimum of 80% on-street daily); Parking compliance (a minimum of 85% of trips must end in a designated bay); Hazardous vehicle removal within 1 hour; Real-time tracking of SLA compliance via a mandatory API; Applicable penalties up to £200 per percentage point, per day; Ending of the contract in the case of persistent breaches.
• Operators must pay an annual administration charge, plus a fee of £100 per bay, per year. If fleet utilisation exceeds 3 trips per vehicle, per day for six consecutive periods, TfL may increase its charges to the operators.
• Innovation is an integral part of the tender submission. Operators must submit a joint proposal for a minimum of three technology pilots – such as pavement detection, speed management or helmet compliance – before going live.

Fluctuo state that the design of the Phase 3 tender “is explicitly designed to generate the evidence base for permanent legislation.” A bill which was introduced in July 2025 would set the foundations for cities to license shared mobility, including e-scooters if they are legalised, with the TfL Phase 3 contract term to 2032 helping to bridge the gap.