Ban on personal-use e-scooters on Adelaide’s public paths could be lifted, says Transport Minister
The State Government is looking at lifting a ban on personal-use e-scooters on public paths. Meanwhile, Adelaide’s coastline will soon be buzzing even more next week when a six-month e-scooter trial begins between Seacliff and Outer Harbor.
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A ban on using personal e-scooters on public paths could be lifted if the State Government can overcome safety issues associated with the proposal.
Transport Minister Stephan Knoll has revealed the Government is considering the possibility of allowing people to use their own e-scooters on public land, however he said there were several hurdles to sort out before such a move could become a reality.
“There are some issues around personal use that we’re looking to deal with,” he said.
“They are classified as a vehicle and we need to work through those insurance implications of private ownership as well as how they’re going to operate and integrate into the broader network.”
Under current laws, it is illegal to ride personal-use e-scooters on roads, footpaths and other public land.
The scooters are only allowed to be used on private property.
Trials of public e-scooters, where scooters are owned by companies that charge riders a fee for use and are permitted to be ridden on footpaths, began in the city last year.
These scooters operate under strict regulations, have speed limit restrictions, and are geofenced in to limit where they can be ridden.
Mr Knoll said regulating personal-use e-scooters was more difficult.
“The real issue we have with private e-scooter sales is that our ability to regulate and make sure that these things are up to spec is made a lot more difficult and in fact would be something that we’d need to potentially talk to the Federal Government about in terms of import regulation and ability to sell and so there are issues to work through but we’re not deterred by that,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see if people with private e-scooters jumping on our roads and... putting themselves in dangerous situations with other cars and we want to make sure that we can control the speeds on these things.”
Meanwhile, Adelaide’s coastline will soon be buzzing even more when a six-month e-scooter trial begins along the Coastal Park Trail next week.
Up to 500 e-scooters, owned by scooter companies Neuron and Ride, will be available for public use between Seacliff and Outer Harbor from Friday, March 13.
“What this is all about is improving mobility for people along our coastline, helping to connect public transport options with e-scooters, allowing people to enjoy and explore more of our beautiful metropolitan coastline,” Mr Knoll said.
“This will be a great boost for local tourism as people can catch a train or tram or drive to one beach, then hop on an e-scooter to have lunch or visit another beach up the coast.”
Mr Knoll said additional restrictions, including not allowing scooters to be out at night and slower speed limits in busy areas such as Henley Square, would be enforced.
Western suburbs councils have welcomed the trial.
West Torrens Council Mayor Michael Coxon urged people to let the local councils know their thoughts about the scooters during the trial.
“We’d really welcome as much feedback as possible that we can get from our residents and from the people that are using these scooters during this trial period so that we can use that in determining whether or not this can become a permanent opportunity it our city,” he said.