Reinventing the wheels: E-scooters changing the way we get around
Criticised as being dangerous and cluttering city streets, e-scooters are about to extend their reach. As governments realise their benefits, their numbers are expected to boom.
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Electric scooters are leading the micro-mobility charge.
Since February, they have become a part of the city streetscape, with purple and yellow variations scattered around the CBD, just waiting for the next rider.
Now, other councils want to follow suit, with tenders called for two companies to launch fleets between Outer Harbor and Seacliff, moving the e-scooters outside their original city boundaries.
Norwood, Payneham & St Peters, as well as Campbelltown, Charles Sturt, Unley and Prospect councils have expressed interest in a 12-month trial in their areas.
Currently, Beam Mobility and RIDE have permits to operate 500 scooters each in the CBD. Beam Mobility head of public affairs Brad Kitschke has spent the past six months engaging with metropolitan and coastal councils to find ways e-scooters can attract people to local tourist hot spots.
“We propose solutions to local problems and create plans to improve the liveability of each council area rather than simply seeking permission to operate e-scooters,” Mr Kitschke said.
“People who live beyond the parklands, in one of the many council areas outside of the Adelaide City Council area, would be able to consider e-scooters for the journey to and from the city.”
RIDE chief executive Tom Cooper said with urban infill happening on the city outskirts, micro-mobility had to be introduced into the suburbs to alleviate traffic congestion.
“For example, one of the most densely populated areas (near the CBD) is Parkside, where there are about 3000 people per square kilometre,” he said.
“So it actually makes a lot of sense to provide alternative modes of transport.”
Beam and RIDE have secured permits to operate in the CBD until January 31, 2020, after the council dropped its association with Lime, which operates in 130 markets around the world.
Lime was squeezed out and told it had to calibrate its scooters so they would stop at the “geo-fenced” CBD boundary.
However, Lime is determined to get back into the SA market because of its success interstate and overseas.
This month it launched an initiative called See You There in Los Angeles as a way to “tie” communities together, encourage people to ditch the car and to reduce social isolation.
In addition, its success in Miami has helped create an on-road scooter and bike lane to encourage micro-mobility.
Lime’s director of government relations for the Asia Pacific region, Mitchell Price, said an interconnected scooter network would improve Adelaide’s beginning and last-mile transport options, as well as connect communities.
He said removing some “geo-fencing” – a virtual geographic boundary – was the first step.
“We need to remove these barriers to allow people to scoot from places like Norwood to the city, to the beaches,” Mr Price said.
“E-scooters and micro-mobility allow you to unlock a city’s potential.
“Let’s shake up the status quo – if we don’t do things differently we are going to continue to rely on the same ecosystem.”
Adelaide City Council data shows between April and September Beam and RIDE clocked 141,000 rides collectively.
The average distance travelled was between 1.7km and 2.2km, with the average travel time about 10 minutes.
Those figures come as a 2019 Deloitte report says e-scooters had “resonated” with consumers since they “stormed” into the market over the past two years.
However, it lists “growing pain issues”, including safety concerns.
In Auckland, there was a fatal accident in September and on October 31, just a day after e-scooter permits were extended in the NZ city, a rider crashed into a wall and sustained serious injuries.
Adelaide City Council has received reports of six “incidents” that resulted in injury.
They include a collision between a vehicle and e-scooter resulting in “serious” injury with hospital admission.
One person required emergency dental treatment following an accident, while a further two riders collided with pedestrians, causing minor injuries.
The council is in the process of finding operators for its upcoming two-year permit.
A requirement of the tender, which closes this Thursday, is that all e-scooter operators need personal accident insurance for riders.
The operator would have to provide the council with statistics of known incidents, collisions, near-misses and injuries.
In light of the new requirements, RIDE plans to hold monthly sessions on e-scooter safety.
“We ran a safety day in Victoria Square the other day, and we are always looking for ways to educate the public,” Mr Cooper said.
“(Participants) go through a safety course and when they have completed it they get some credits to ride.
“We plan to run that monthly.”
Transport Minister Stephan Knoll said investigations into bringing scooters into other council areas was ongoing.
“So far, it appears that e-scooters have been embraced by South Australians and are helping move people around our city, making it more accessible,” Mr Knoll said.
“We are actively working through the issues to enable e-scooters to be rolled out in other council areas as we await the conclusion of the CBD trial.”