E-scooters in Portsmouth: Voi hire, the Solent trial, and where you can ride and park

E-scooters in Portsmouth: Voi and the Solent trial

Voi runs Portsmouth’s hire e-scooters. The city council and Solent Transport launched the trial on 18 March 2021 with 100 scooters, as part of the Solent Future Transport Zone funded by the Department for Transport, Express FM reported that day. In November 2026 the University of Portsmouth says anyone can report misuse to Voi, “the operator”, and that Voi also hires out e-bikes in the city, with docking bays around Southsea.

How long will it run? In March 2022 the council extended the trial to 30 November 2022 to collect more data for the Department for Transport, Express FM reported. Hire was still running on 1 November 2026, and the government’s list, updated on 7 July 2026, has the Solent (the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton) among 21 trial areas, all due to end in May 2028.

At 04:11 GMT on Sunday 1 November 2026 the map of Portsmouth showed 559 Voi e-scooters free to rent at that moment. The total takes in the whole city: Portsea Island, from The Hard and Gunwharf to Southsea and Eastney, and the mainland from Paulsgrove and Cosham to Drayton and Farlington. None stood in Gosport, Portchester or on Hayling Island, outside the city. The map shows where each scooter stands and its battery, not prices, zones, bays or Voi’s e-bikes; tap a scooter to open the Voi app, where you unlock and pay.

How much does a Voi e-scooter cost in Portsmouth?

The Voi app shows the unlock fee and the price per minute before you start, and any passes on offer. Past prices, which may have changed:

In November 2026 the University of Portsmouth says Voi’s e-bikes cost from 18p a minute; it gives no e-scooter price. New to hire scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.

When can you ride? Not late at night

In March 2022 Voi’s scooters could be hired from 4am to 10pm, Express FM reported; at the launch a year earlier the hours were 6am to 10pm. At 23:37 GMT on Saturday 31 October 2026 the map showed no Voi scooters in Portsmouth, and at 04:04 GMT the next morning it showed 559. Check the app for today’s hours.

Who can ride a Voi, and what gets you fined

You must be 18 or over with a full or provisional driving licence (category Q, which comes with every UK car, moped and motorcycle licence), and you upload it to the Voi app when you register, Express FM reported at the launch. 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.

Express FM and the University of Portsmouth both gave the 12.5 mph cap in March 2022, below the national 15.5 mph (25 km/h). Report bad riding or parking to Voi, the university says. The national rules are in our guide to e-scooter law in the UK.

A private e-scooter is illegal on Portsmouth’s roads, pavements and cycle lanes and in its parks; you may ride one only on private land with the owner’s permission. Riding one counts as riding an uninsured motor vehicle: a £300 fixed penalty and 6 points, and the police can seize it, since 29 June 2026 without a warning first if it is ridden anti-socially. On 30 October 2026 there was no government bill to change this, and in September the Department for Transport said only that it would consult on e-scooter rules “over the next year”.

Where can you ride a Voi in Portsmouth?

Voi’s scooters “can be used on public roads, including cycle lanes and shared-use paths, but not footpaths”, Express FM reported in March 2022. Across England, a sign can ban e-scooters from a cycle route.

In March 2022 the University of Portsmouth’s guidance explained how the trial kept riders inside Portsmouth: ridden out of the zone, the scooter stopped, and the ride couldn’t end until it was moved to a permitted parking place; if it sat idle for an hour, the app charged a £25 misuse fee. In slow-speed zones the scooter ran a little slower, and in no-ride zones it slowed to a stop. The map here doesn’t draw these zones: check the Voi app.

Southsea and the seafront. At 04:29 GMT on 1 November 2026 the map showed 74 Voi scooters in Southsea between Clarence Pier and South Parade Pier, from the shore up to Palmerston Road, three of them by Clarence Pier.

Where to park a Voi in Portsmouth

At the launch in March 2021 the city had 17 racks, with 7 more proposed, among them at The Hard Interchange, Hilsea station, near the junction of Festing Road and Albert Road, and at Lakeside North Harbour, Express FM reported. In March 2022 it described “fully racked parking bay locations across Portsmouth”, and the university’s guidance of March 2022 says riders may park only in designated spots. The app shows today’s bays.

By the harbour, at 04:29 GMT on 1 November 2026 the map showed 19 scooters between The Hard and Gunwharf Quays: five together on The Hard by the Historic Dockyard, and groups of three to five beside Gunwharf Quays.

Many trial towns make every ride end in a bay: see e-scooter hire in the UK.

The University of Portsmouth

In November 2026 the university’s travel page says e-scooters can’t be used on its land, such as Ravelin Park and its building courtyards, or brought into its buildings, halls of residence included, even for storage; elsewhere they may go where bicycles may, such as roads and bike lanes. Its guidance of March 2022 goes further: no e-scooter may be used anywhere on campus or kept near its buildings.

Ferries to the Isle of Wight and Gosport

• Wightlink: in November 2026 its questions-and-answers page says it bans e-scooters and other small e-vehicles from its ships, FastCats and customer buildings, because fire services report a growing number of battery fires. E-bikes, electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters are not affected. Its FastCat to Ryde leaves from Portsmouth Harbour, inside the railway station; its Portsmouth car ferry port is on Gunwharf Road.
• Hovertravel, the hovercraft from Southsea to Ryde, sets its own rules: ask it before you travel.
• Gosport Ferry carries bicycles and e-scooters for an extra fare, £1.80 for an open return since 2 April 2026, its website says, and it leaves from a pontoon beside Portsmouth Harbour station. A Voi is no use on the other side, as Gosport is outside the trial: end your ride before you board.

On the island, Voi hires out e-scooters too: at 04:11 GMT on 1 November 2026 the map showed 217 free to rent on the Isle of Wight. For Southampton, the third town in the Solent trial, see e-scooters in Southampton.

Portsmouth’s stations and the trains

South Western Railway bans private e-scooters from all railway premises, station forecourts, cycle stores, platforms and trains included. Hire scooters may come onto a station forecourt only to reach or leave the designated hire bays, and never into station buildings, onto platforms or onto trains, its bike page said on 1 November 2026.

Express FM’s 2021 launch report listed Voi racks at Hilsea station and The Hard Interchange, the main bus terminal beside Portsmouth Harbour station. End your ride in a bay outside and walk in.

Did you know?

• A lockdown launch. The first 100 scooters, on 18 March 2021, were for necessary journeys only, and NHS and emergency-service workers could ride free while the lockdown lasted, Express FM reported.
• One of the first with racks. Express FM’s launch report put Portsmouth among the first UK cities with parking racks for hire scooters, and Voi said the city would host some of its first branded ones.
• 550 scooters in a year. By March 2022, 550 Voi scooters had been brought to Portsmouth and had carried 255,000 journeys over 493,000 miles; more than 112,000 of those journeys replaced car trips, Express FM reported.
• From 31 areas to 21. In March 2022 the Department for Transport was monitoring rental schemes in 31 areas across England; the government’s list of July 2026 has 21.