‘Voi’s empire is no more, and I can’t help but feel nostalgic’ 

In what feels like the end of an era, metro mayor Dan Norris announced the end of Voi’s contract in the Bristol region on Friday.

Bristol would be changing providers – and colours – to Berlin company TIER, as early as this autumn.

A new era of the ‘Westscoot’, as it has imaginatively been named, would officially begin.

The news marks the end of the Voi empire, and thus the end of the company’s grip on the very social and cultural fabric of our city as we know it.

The news shouldn’t come as a surprise. Voi’s contract was up for renewal this year, and there had been talk of ending their contract with WECA, nevermind the company’s links to Russia which makes for awkward reading.

But it’s nevertheless a hard pill to swallow for a generation of people in Bristol that embraced the ups and downs of the Swedish-owned scooters with open arms.

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Read more: Rees on Voi e-scooters: ‘It’s had a massive impact on the city’

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The conspicuous scooters first arrived in Bristol in October 2020, their uptake slow, with many responding with caution and suspicion.

But after a few curious adventurers took the plunge, it wasn’t long before Vois were everywhere.

They proved divisive at first, aggravating drivers and cyclists in equal measure. They were left strewn across pavements and frightened pedestrians as users weaved their way through busy streets.

But fast-forward three years, and the Voi has become a staple in Bristol’s transport network, offering discounts for NHS staff during the pandemic, and becoming the go-to mode of transport as Bristol’s buses proved increasingly unreliable and taxis increased their prices.

For myself, and many of my peers who came to Bristol as students not long ago, Voi has existed in the city for as long as we have and, as bright young things, we took them up with zealous abandon – albeit, slightly over-zealous at times.

Voi armies surrounded the Downs during the summer months as students flocked to the park – photo: Tom Archer

As a consequence, Voi has punctuated my memories of Bristol, whether I like it or not.

From first dates, to last minute pub trips on the other side of town, to after work gatherings at the harbour, and even an ambitious trip to Conham River Park that would end in my Voi stubbornly stopping miles away from my friends enjoying a barbeque in the evening sun, Voi has always been there, reliable and unreliable in equal measure.

Our relationship hasn’t always been great. I can remember a number of occasions where my love for Vois turned into all out fury, like when my Voi’s battery died in the middle of Hartcliffe on one of my first days as a budding young journalist.

I returned to the office hours later, after walking for what felt like miles in the desperate hope of finding another one before nightfall.

Or during exam season at university, when Voi parking spaces were few and far between, a distant dot on the horizon as students trekked up and down Bristol’s hills to find a coveted parking spot in a race against time.

Or even the odd two-person Voi trip, when your mate couldn’t find one and it was late and you were tired, so you would take a gamble and hope for the best, only to wake up the next day to an email threatening an all out ban, after you were snitched on by the always watching, but somehow invisible Voi police.

Perhaps I’m looking back with rose-tinted glasses.

After-all, we’ll still have e-scooters, they’ll just be greener and most likely come built with better phone holders (I don’t want to think about the amount of times I have smashed my phone after it flew from the lethal jaws of Voi’s phone holders and skidded across the road after scooting over a minor bump.)

Nevertheless, in a way I didn’t think possible, Vois made a surprisingly large contribution to my experience of Bristol, and for that I’ll be forever grateful.

Main photo: Betty Woolerton

Read next:

• Voi CEO faces questions in Bristol over links with Russia
• Rees on Voi e-scooters: ‘It’s had a massive impact on the city’
• Call for Voi e-scooters to be banned due to safety fears
• ‘It is cars parking on pavements that we should worry about, not e-scooters’

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