Airlie Beach e-scooters, Segways for hire: Where you can and cannot ride in Whitsunday Regional Council

Love them or hate them, e-vehicles are here to stay on the Airlie Beach foreshore. But authorities say new conditions will help curb public safety risks, as well as the ‘nuisance’ factor.

Tourists flooding back to the Whitsundays will be well catered for without getting their feet wet as authorities clear the way for e-scooters and Segways to become a permanent fixture of the Airlie Beach foreshore.

Whitsunday Regional Council this week 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, subject to 29 conditions designed to curb potential safety risks.

Mayor Andrew Willcox said a key condition was the use of GPS technology including geo-fencing and tracking to regulate where and how fast the hired vehicles could operate.

If a hired electric bicycle, tricycle or scooter travels beyond the permitted area, it will automatically shut down.

When operating within permitted areas, the vehicles are programmed to travel at a maximum speed of 12km/h or in “well-populated” areas only up to 6km/h.

Another condition stipulates “the holder of the approval will take specified measures to ensure that the activities authorised by the approval do not cause a nuisance”.

Tourism operators Whitsunday Fun, Ocean Dynamics, Le Shack Whitsunday Adventure, and Whitsunday Segway Tours have the green light to hire out bicycles, electric bicycles, electric tricycles and electric scooters for use all along the Airlie Beach foreshore. File photo

The approval at this week’s ordinary council meeting comes after a six-month trial involving three businesses operating a maximum of 15 e-vehicles at a time.

Mr Willcox highlighted that the council received just seven complaints during the April to October 2021 trial.

Council documents state there were no reports of injuries to pedestrians or e-vehicle hirers, however there were some reports of close-call crashes and nuisance to pedestrians.

Mr Willcox said the council was confident the new, “tightened” conditions would address the complaints raised, as well as other potential issues such as vehicles being “left lying around” creating hazards and an “untidy” appearance around town.

“We’ve made it so the operators, when someone hires from them, they have to provide all their details and bring it back to where they hired it from,” he said.

“And we’ve made sure they’ve got the appropriate technology on board to make sure they stay within the permitted areas.”

Whitsunday Regional Council's map showing where commercially-hired E-vehicles (bicycles, electric bicycles, electric tricycles & electric scooters) can and cannot operate in Airlie Beach. Picture: Whitsunday Regional Council

The changes aim to “make sure everyone who comes to the Whitsundays has a good time”, Mr Willcox said.

“Everyone loves the islands but this is an extra land-based activity,” he said.

“At the same time, we’ve got to keep the visitors safe and the residents safe.”

While the new conditions apply to hired e-vehicles only, Mr Willcox said privately-owned e-vehicles were subject to Local Laws and police regulations.

He said the council would ensure Local Laws officers kept an eye on all e-vehicle activities in public areas to “make sure everything is being operated in the appropriate manner”.