Should Adelaide keep e-scooters until 2020?
E-scooters are set to depart Adelaide’s streets after October 13 but the Adelaide City Council want them to stay for at least another three months — but should they?
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E-scooters could stay in the CBD until the end of January 2020 – and Adelaide City Council has not ruled out keeping them on the streets past that date.
A council committee will next week discuss a proposal for the Beam and RIDE operators to keep their fleet of 500 scooters each on the footpaths, rather than get rid of them by October 13.
It will also consider pushing the State Government to allow scooters into North Adelaide during that three-month extension.
The extra three months would allow the council to review current permit conditions and prepare an expression of interest for e-scooters to continue operating past January 31.
Beam head of public affairs Brad Kitschke said a recent trial had proved scooters were a “positive addition” to transport options.
“The trial has been conducted with safety and the preservation of public amenity at the forefront – and we are very proud to have delivered safe outcomes,” he said
Between both providers, about 80 jobs would be retained through a time extension, with potential for more employees to be hired going into summer.
RIDE chief executive Tom Cooper said he was “over-the-moon excited”.
It showed Adelaide was a “progressive” city.
“It is an environmentally friendly and efficient way to get around,” Mr Cooper said.
Between April 15 and September 1, 141,000 trips were taken by 33,000 riders.
The average distance ridden was between 1.7km and 2.2km, with the average ride lasting about 10 minutes.
A total of six accidents or near misses was reported to the council, including one where the rider was taken to hospital with a serious injury following a collision with another “moving vehicle”.
According to Data SA, SA Police cautioned or fined six riders for not wearing a helmet – copping a $164 fine.
Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said the scooters had been embraced in the community.
“We have to make sure they don’t become a danger moving through the city, but I think they are fabulous,” she said.
“We will work through conditions and operating guidelines so we can continue, hopefully, to have them in the city.”
Beam and RIDE secured permits to operate in the CBD after the council dropped its association with Lime, which operates in 130 markets around the world.
Lime was told it had to calibrate its scooters so they would stop at the “geo-fenced” CBD boundary.
The State Government has been contacted for comment.
Adelaide City Council’s committee will come up with a recommendation at its session on September 17.
The full council will then decide on the scooter season dates at its September 24 meeting.