E-scooter hire in Bath: Dott’s prices, no-ride zones and where to park
You can hire an e-scooter in Bath from Dott, the only operator in the West of England trial, at any hour. It costs £1 to unlock and 25p a minute, so 10 minutes cost £3.50. You must be 18 or over with a full or provisional driving licence, ride on roads and cycle routes but never on pavements, and end every ride in one of Dott’s parking bays. The scooter stops itself around the Roman Baths and the Abbey, in most parks and on the canal towpath.
Bath e-scooter hire: Dott, in the West of England trial
One company, Dott, rents e-scooters and e-bikes in Bath, under a contract with the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (WECA). WECA runs the trial with Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES), Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Voi brought the first scooters to Bath in October 2020, Tier took over in 2023, and Dott replaced Tier on 3 September 2024.
At 10.19am on Saturday 24 October 2026 the map of Bath showed about 310 Dott e-scooters: a snapshot, not the fleet size. The map shows e-scooters only; Dott’s e-bikes, about 60 of them in its Bath data later that morning, are not on it.
Dott had dropped its midnight curfew in Bath by October 2025, and Travelwest, WECA’s travel site, says its vehicles are available 24/7. Dott’s contract with WECA ends in 2027: on 25 August 2026 WECA invited tenders for the next one, and no winner had been announced by 24 October 2026. Hire e-scooters also depend on the national trial, due to run until May 2028.
How much does a Dott e-scooter cost in Bath?
Dott charges £1 to unlock and 25p a minute for e-scooters and e-bikes alike: the rate on Travelwest (updated 22 September 2026) and in Dott’s Bath data on 24 October 2026. Bath and Bristol share one price list, and the app shows the price before you unlock.
| Option | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Pay as you go | £1 + 25p a minute | 10 minutes £3.50, 20 minutes £6.00 |
| 2 Ride Pass | £3.99 | Two rides of up to 20 minutes within 24 hours |
| Unlimited Free Unlocks | £5.99 for 30 days | No unlock fee; 25p a minute |
| Dott Pro | £9.99 for 30 days | Rides of up to 20 minutes for £1.50 each |
Dott’s UK Access Scheme takes 35% off pay-as-you-go rides for university students and apprentices, 50% for NHS staff and Blue Light Card holders, and 80% for older or disabled bus pass holders, people on low incomes, refugees and asylum seekers, though not off passes. University of Bath staff and students claim the 35% with their university email address and renew it yearly.
You can reserve a scooter for up to 10 minutes free. New to hire scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.
Are e-scooters legal in Bath? Age, licence and fines
Hire scooters are legal because the West of England is one of England’s 21 trial areas. You must be 18 or over with a full or provisional driving licence (category Q, included in every UK car, moped and motorcycle licence). Visitors can use a full EU or EEA licence, or another country’s full driving licence within 12 months of entering the UK, but never a foreign provisional one. Dott’s e-bikes are open from 16, with no driving licence, at the same price.
| Rule | What it means | Set by | If you break it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where to ride | Roads and cycle routes inside Dott’s Bath area | B&NES traffic order; Dott’s zones | The scooter stops in a no-ride zone |
| Pavements | Never | National law | £50 fixed penalty |
| One rider | No passengers, and nobody else riding on your licence | National law; Dott enforces it | A Dott ban: “one strike and you’re out” |
| Speed | 12.5 mph (20 km/h), about 10 mph in slow zones | Dott | The scooter slows itself |
| Phone | Not in your hand while riding | National law | £200 and 6 points |
| Drink and drugs | Drink-drive law applies | National law | Court, a driving ban, possibly prison |
| Parking | End the ride in a Dott bay and take a photo | WECA and Dott | £10, or £15 outside the area |
| Helmet | Recommended, not compulsory | National law; Travelwest urges one | – |
Dott’s insurance covers other people, not your own injuries. The national rules are in our guide to e-scooter law in the UK.
A private e-scooter is illegal on Bath’s roads, pavements and cycle lanes and in its parks. Riding one counts as riding an uninsured motor vehicle: a £300 fixed penalty and 6 points. Avon and Somerset Police seize illegal e-scooters, and WECA says they are then destroyed. The University of Bath also bans private e-scooters from its grounds.
Where can you ride in Bath? No-ride and slow zones
A B&NES traffic order, in force since 29 September 2025 for up to 18 months, lets hire e-scooters use any road in Bath and North East Somerset that pedal cycles use; Travelwest adds that this may include some shared paths. Within that, Dott’s app sets the rest: red no-ride zones where the scooter stops, yellow slow zones, and grey beyond its Bath area, where you can’t end a ride.
Dott’s Bath area runs from Batheaston and Bathampton in the east to Newbridge and Weston in the west, and since 4 December 2025 south to Odd Down, Southdown and Combe Down. Bathford, Claverton, Southstoke, all three park and ride sites and Bath Spa University’s Newton Park campus lie outside it.
| Where | Riding | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Roman Baths, Abbey, Stall Street, Abbey Green, Bath Street | No-ride | Includes Kingston Parade, York Street and Thermae Bath Spa |
| SouthGate’s pedestrian streets, Lower Borough Walls | No-ride | The road part of Southgate Street is open |
| Union Street, Union Passage, Northumberland Place | No-ride | Milsom Street, Westgate Street and High Street are open |
| Pulteney Bridge, Grand Parade, Great Pulteney Street | Open | Parade Gardens and the Recreation Ground, by the river, are no-ride |
| Royal Crescent, The Circus, Royal Avenue | Open | Most of Royal Victoria Park, including the Botanical Gardens, is no-ride |
| Queen Square | Roads open | The garden in the middle is no-ride |
| Sydney Gardens, Henrietta Park, Hedgemead Park, Alexandra Park | No-ride | So are most of Bath’s other parks and playing fields |
| Kennet and Avon Canal towpath | No-ride | Nearly every stretch inside the area; most of the canal is outside it |
| River Avon paths and the Bristol & Bath Railway Path in Bath | Mostly no-ride | Through Green Park, Norfolk Crescent, Locksbrook and Weston |
| Two Tunnels Greenway | Mostly open | The Combe Down Tunnel end lies outside the area |
| Bath Spa station, Royal United Hospital | Slow: about 10 mph | The bus station area is no-ride |
The towpath ban also comes from its owner: the Canal & River Trust’s Towpath Code (March 2026) does not allow e-scooters, and the trust has let no e-scooter trial onto its towpaths.
Dott’s zones are unnamed shapes we matched to OpenStreetMap: the app’s map is the one that counts.
Dott parking in Bath: bays, photos and fines
A ride can only end in a parking bay, marked on the street or shown in the app; Dott’s Bath data listed 224 on 24 October 2026. Find the one nearest your destination before you set off, park upright beside a wall or a bike stand, clear of doorways, ramps, bus stops and crossings, and take the photo the app asks for.
| Place | Nearest bay | Bays within 300 metres |
|---|---|---|
| Bath Abbey | About 70 metres | 11 |
| Pulteney Bridge | About 70 metres | 7 |
| The Circus | About 90 metres | 9 |
| Royal Crescent | About 170 metres | 6 |
| Bath Spa station | About 110 metres | 8 |
| Royal United Hospital | About 40 metres | 7 |
Since WECA’s Scoot Safe campaign began on 20 August 2025, parking outside a bay risks a £10 charge, or £15 outside the operating area. More than 36,000 fines had been issued across the West of England by October 2026, Travelwest says, and bad parking fell from 2.4% to 0.7% of trips. To report a badly parked Dott, use ridedott.com/report or call 0800 048 8993.
Bath’s area is separate from Bristol’s, with Keynsham outside both. The same app and prices work in Bristol: see e-scooters in Bristol.
Bath Spa station, GWR trains and First buses
GWR lists Dott bays close to Bath Spa and Oldfield Park stations. In Dott’s data, Bath Spa station is a 10 mph slow zone and the bus station area next door is no-ride; Oldfield Park station is no-ride, with a bay about 70 metres away.
No e-scooters on GWR. “E-scooters are banned on all GWR trains and stations,” Great Western Railway says: riders who bring one are asked to leave, and an unattended one is treated as abandoned and disposed of. End your ride in a bay and walk in.
No e-scooters on First buses either. First West of England’s conditions of travel (March 2026) allow folding bikes and non-motorised folding scooters on board, but “Electric scooters are not permitted to be brought on board”.
University of Bath and Bath Spa University
The University of Bath campus at Claverton Down is inside Dott’s area, with four bays within 300 metres of the Parade; its playing fields and the Sports Training Village are no-ride. The university puts the walk from the city centre at 30 to 40 minutes and suggests you “take the scooter up the last bit of the hill”. Its regulations for 2026–27 do not allow privately owned e-scooters on its grounds.
Bath Spa University says the scheme “does not extend as far as Newton Park”, its main campus west of the city. Take the U3 bus instead, which runs to the city centre until roughly 3am Monday to Saturday. Its Locksbrook Road and Sion Hill campuses are inside the area, though Sion Hill’s nearest bay is about 425 metres away.
Did you know?
- Bath started with 50 scooters in October 2020, and the fleet later doubled to 100, B&NES says.
- South Bath set a record. The December 2025 expansion, with 50 more vehicles, helped deliver the city’s highest-ever daily and weekly rental numbers, Travelwest said in February 2026.
- Every Dott carries a registration plate, so misuse can be quickly identified, WECA says.
Questions
- Is Dott 24 hours in Bath?
- Yes. Dott had dropped its midnight curfew in Bath by October 2025, and Travelwest says its e-scooters and e-bikes are available 24/7 across the West of England. Drink-drive law applies at any hour.
- Can I ride a Dott e-scooter from Bath to Bristol?
- No. Bath’s Dott area is separate from Bristol’s, and Keynsham, between them, lies outside both, so you can’t end a ride on the way. Take the train or bus and hire again in Bristol with the same app.
- Can I ride an e-scooter on the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath?
- No. The Canal & River Trust, which owns it, bans e-scooters there, and almost all of it inside Dott’s Bath area is a no-ride zone.
- Do Dott scooters reach Bath Spa University’s Newton Park campus?
- No. Newton Park is outside Dott’s Bath area, as the university itself says; take the U3 bus. Its Locksbrook Road and Sion Hill campuses are inside the area.
- Can I ride my own e-scooter in Bath?
- No. As everywhere in the UK, a private e-scooter is illegal on roads, pavements and cycle lanes and in parks, and the police can seize it. You may ride one only on private land with the owner’s permission, and not at the University of Bath.