Adelaide City Council votes to allow e-scooters into North Adelaide
E-scooters are a step closer to being rolled out in North Adelaide — but what about Montifiore Hill?
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Electric scooters are a step closer to rolling out in North Adelaide after Adelaide City Council supported a push to allow them into the suburb.
However, they would not scoot into the area for at least two months.
The council unanimously voted at a meeting on Tuesday night to write to Planning Minister Stephen Knoll asking him to extend the CBD trial into the city-fringe suburb.
The meeting was told the scooters would make it up Montifiore Hill, however, its battery would drain faster.
Cr Alex Hyde, who was behind the push, said there is a demand for scooters in the area because they are a “last mile” transport solution to help commuters reach their first or final destination.
“Even in the cold winter months, we have still seen people rolling around on this innovative and highly sought after mobility option,” Cr Hyde said.
“And with that, I would say that is time to look at extending it to North Adelaide — of course there are businesses there that would like to have that accessibility option available to their customers.
“I have already consulted e-scooter operators … and they have assured me they are able to make it up the hill, however, there will be a bit of a drain on power.”
Beam and RIDE secured permits in April to operate up to 500 scooters each in the CBD until October, after previous operator Lime was kicked out amid safety issues.
The Advertiser reported last month that Beam Mobility asked Mr Knoll to extend the boundary.
Under that proposal, commuters could travel along War Memorial Drive and Barton Tce West into North Adelaide, and along Port Rd to the Entertainment Centre.
Beam Mobility head of operations Locky Cooper said having the support of the council was a win for North Adelaide.
“The scooters would make it up the hill, however, there may be a slight change in the amount of battery used for that trip, but it would not be hugely significant,” Mr Cooper said.
“Beam scooters also have technology in them to maintain a constant speed downhill to keep them within the imposed speed limit of 15km/h.”
RIDE chief executive Tom Cooper was contacted for comment.
Planning Minister Stephan Knoll said: “The Marshall Government fast tracked the ability for e-scooters to operate around our CBD which has been largely successful with hundreds of thousands of trips now.
“We will consider the council’s request following the end of the trial period later this year.”