Opinion: Scooter future needs a brand new set of rules

Cities were expected to be redesigned around the Segway, instead it’s the humble scooter that is forcing changes to our road rules, writes Ryan Murphy.

Engineer James Trackson rolled down Brisbane’s ­Elizabeth St in 1902 in Queensland’s first car and ­certainly raised a few eyebrows.

Trackson was a trailblazer, establishing Brisbane’s telephone exchange and installing the city’s first street lamps during an era of innovation. He was also one of RACQ’s founders.

But behind the wheel of his “Locomobile”, Trackson was entering a fractious debate with horse riders who were adamant the newfangled contraptions had no place on city roads.

The Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate had opined that the new “crude form of mechanically driven carriages” wouldn’t impact on demand for the reliable horse.

This view proved to be shortsighted, but legislators at the time ­struggled with the issue.

There’s a clear parallel between this car-versus-horse imbroglio and the current debate about the ever-expanding range of e-mobility options hitting city streets.

The Schrinner Council did a bit of trailblazing of its own in 2018 by being the first in Australia to ­establish a shared e-scooter scheme. What started with just 500 Lime scooters has now grown to 2000
e-scooters and 800 e-bikes operated by Beam and Neuron.

More than five million people have journeyed across Brisbane using shared e-mobility devices since late-2018, that’s more than CityCycle could rack up in a decade.

Brisbane residents think this fleet of electric vehicles are convenient and inexpensive, which is why every day 8000 trips are taken on them in our city.

E-mobility is also helping solve public transport’s “last mile” ­problem, with up to 50 per cent of Brisbane riders using e-scooters to replace a car ride.

Despite this, there remains some angst about e-mobility, much like there was when Trackson and his ­fellow early-adopters rolled down Brisbane’s muddy streets.

Saying “no” to shareable electric scooters might have seemed the easy option, but this transport revolution was coming, and regulating the scheme through caps and safety conditions was a far more prudent approach than sticking our head in the sand.

The Schrinner Council continues to do its part keeping pace with the e-mobility era by trialling a new ­dedicated cycleway in the CBD, rolling out e-mobility parking hubs at old CityCycle stations and announcing a safe night precinct lockout.

However, managing e-mobility doesn’t rest only with councils, and it’s become obvious that other levels of government need to start pushing harder to keep up with the change.

We need the Queensland ­Government, who set the road rules for shared and private e-mobility ­riders, to do its part.

Managing speed remains a real issue and the Queensland ­government must change the ­necessary laws to let police enforce the rules, including ensuring riders are wearing helmets and adhering to other road rules.

The state needs to adjust the road rules to allow e-scooters in bike lanes, letting them separate from those walking on footpaths.

This is fast becoming a two-speed regulatory environment where riders of council’s shared scheme are ­speed-limited, have helmet locks and are prevented from riding in high-risk areas using GPS technology.

Conversely, state-regulated ­private e-scooters are operating in the wild west – and council can’t be the sheriff here.

The other critical area where regulation needs to keep up with the e-mobility revolution is standards.

Some real junk makes its way through Customs and into shops as retailers race to meet e-mobility ­demands with the latest bargains.

Then there are issues with high powered models, capable of highway speeds. The federal government has an opportunity to lead through model laws and stop the importation of dangerous and non-compliant ­devices – as they do for importing cars and buses.

These aren’t issues that should turn us off e-mobility, and in reality, e-mobility’s destiny to be the future of urban transport is already set in stone.

It just means cities, states and countries can’t waste any more time in taking a holistic approach to manage the e-mobility industry.

It took about 70 years for seatbelts to become mandatory in Queensland cars. With e-mobility, we can’t afford to horse around.

Ryan Murphy is transport chairman in Brisbane City Council’s civic cabinet