Mackay e-scooters: Where you can and can’t ride
Picture cruising past the Pioneer River on the Bluewater Trail, ducking over the Forgan Bridge and down to the Mackay Marina — on an e-scooter. And then leaving it there for the next person to use while you wine and dine.
Mackay
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Picture cruising past the Pioneer River on the Bluewater Trail, ducking over the Forgan Bridge and down to Mackay Marina — on an e-scooter.
And then leaving it there for the next person to use while you wine and dine.
Beam Mobility Australia has picked up the exclusive tender for e-scooters in Mackay, bringing a fleet of 300 for a 12-month trial from July.
The proposal will enable e-scooters to be ridden in the Mackay city centre, waterfront, Bluewater Trail, Caneland Central precinct, Mackay Harbour, North Mackay, Mackay Base Hospital and Botanic Gardens.
Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said e-scooters would provide a fantastic transport option for residents and tourists to get out and about, exploring our region in a convenient and fun way.
“For visitors staying in the Mackay CBD without a car, or locals simply wanting to explore as much of the city as they can in a short period of time, an e-scooter is going to be a tremendous option,” he said.
“The e-scooters may also provide assistance in easing parking congestion in certain areas like the Base Hospital precinct for workers or people attending events at the Botanic Gardens.
“They will be speed limited so we won’t have any speed demons on the e-scooters.
“The e-scooters will have to abide by all the road rules, they come with a helmet and they will be geo-fenced so you won’t be able to take them out of the (dedicated) zones.”
The e-scooters can reach a maximum of 20kmh but will be limited in certain locations for safety reasons.
E-scooters and Segways became a permanent fixture of the Airlie Beach foreshore in February when Whitsunday Regional Council approved four businesses to operate 10 e-vehicles each for commercial hire on council-controlled footpaths, cycle ways, foreshores and boardwalks between Cannonvale and Airlie Beach.
The businesses are subject to 29 conditions designed to curb potential safety risks.
Mackay Regional Council staff selected Beam, a Queensland company, ahead of two other tenderers who made submissions for the opportunity.
In a report before councillors today, economic development officer Grier Williamson said Beam was selected for its experience, capacity and resources to deliver the services in a timely manner and at a quality standard.
The report detailing the preferred tender, which councillors are expected to vote on today, said the project was about providing community members and visitors with an alternate transport option.
Council staff also hope the e-scooter trial will establish a new user experience for people to increase activity in the city centre, to further support local businesses; and encourage sustainable and diversified jobs and investment in the Mackay region.
“Beam has recommended the proposed project area can support a fleet of 300 e-scooters (and) the fleet of e-scooters can be operational within 14 days from date of signed agreement at proposed locations, with the ability to adjust numbers at peak-hour times and for events,” Ms Williamson said in her preferred tender report.
“Beam will hire a dedicated, locally based Mackay team, including an operations manager, who will supply adequate resources to manage all operational matters and community engagement.
“Beam’s ongoing operations including implementation, education, monitoring and refining proposed geofencing, slow zones, exclusion/no-ride zones, parking zones and no parking zones throughout the proposed locations, as required.”
Ms Williamson said a preferred headquarters had been selected close to the city centre.
“The entire fleet of scooters is installed with interchangeable batteries allowing rangers to swap out batteries on the spot, which eliminates the need for e-scooters to be taken off the streets to the warehouse for recharging,” she wrote.
“Beam provided detailed information on the e-scooter safety design features and day-to-day management of e-scooters in operation as well as their head office quality assurance processes.”
Ms Williamson noted the company had detailed rider training and behaviour management and financial incentives to encourage good riding behaviour, including incentives awarded to users after they submit a satisfactory parking photo for validation.
She said safety-enhanced technology including hardware and software, was available with the ability to automatically adjust speed to protect pedestrians, rapid enforcement responses to stop riders from entering geofenced locations.
Ms Williamson said the technology could detect aggressive riding behaviour and provide early intervention and warning as well.
She said Beam had proposed 50 parking locations within existing council reserves across the pilot area and no supporting infrastructure was required from council.
“Each parking zone is allocated a capped number of e-scooters, varying from 3-10 parking spaces,” the report reads.
“To ensure the maximum number of e-scooters is not exceeded, the preferred operator uses two mechanisms, being: incentives, such as ride credit discounts to encourage users to park in alternative locations with fewer e-scooters; and employed ‘rangers’ who use their in-house technology 24/7 to monitor e-scooter usage and parking and adjust manually.
“Beam has the ability through in-app technology and GPS tracking to instantly adjust geofence restrictions for specific areas in the region.
“These include speed limit, parking rules, pricing and messaging within the app, which is delivered in collaboration with council.
“Slow zone speed limits of 10km/h will be set in high traffic or constrained areas to minimise amenity impacts associated with pedestrians and shared spaces.”
Proposed slow zones include Mackay City Centre and the Civic Precinct, Caneland Central and Bluewater Lagoon outdoor precincts as well as the Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens.
The no-ride zone, using geofencing technology, means e-scooters will not be able to operate at the following locations:
The western side of Wood Street footpath between Victoria and Gordon Street;
Sections of the Bruce Highway and Ron Camm Bridge;
Schools and education centres;
Skate parks;
Parks, sport facilities and conservation reserves;
Shopping centres and hospitals.
Ms Williamson, who recommended Beam’s preferred tender be approved, said the company had the ability to monitor, refine and update the proposed zones as required.
“Incidents will be managed through an in-house task management application,” she said.
“The operational team responders ride e-bikes and e-scooters that allow them to safely get to locations quicker than on foot, allowing capacity to respond to more events each day.”
Ms Williamson said Beam also proposed local business partnerships and dedicated social media campaigns to connect riders and businesses.
She said one initiative was named #BeamTheCity to boost tourism in the region and encourage riders to explore the community and connect with businesses; other #BeamForCommunity would contribute to local community groups, such as sporting clubs or charities.
“The implementation of the e-scooters in the Mackay region for the first time will attract interest from the community including potential or perceived safety concerns,” she said.
“The preferred tenderer was selected based on their customer service approach which includes in-app technology reporting, social media, phone and email.
“Response times for any anticipated issues such as fallen, unsafe or e-scooters in need of repair have been included as part of the tender response and will be adhered to as part of the ongoing contract management.
“The preferred tenderer holds the minimum required insurance including public liability, plant and equipment, work cover as well as additional insurance relevant to these services.”
There will be an option to extend the trial for another 12 months at the council’s discretion.
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