Georges River Council launches e-scooter trial at Kogarah

The first council-led e-scooter trial in Metro Sydney has begun, giving residents another way to travel around. The hi-tech vehicles include wireless phone charging and auditory alerts.

Georges River Council has launched a 12-month shared e-scooter trial. Picture: Georges River Council

The first council-led e-scooter trial in Metro Sydney has begun giving residents in the Kogarah area another way to travel around.

Georges River Council’s 12-month trial with e-scooter provider Beam began on Wednesday and it is the sixth trial underway as part of the NSW shared e-scooter scheme.

Residents and visitors aged 16 and over can hire one of 60 purple Beam e-scooters and helmets to ride to existing bus and train stations, St George Hospital, St George TAFE, Jubilee Stadium, community services and cafes in Kogarah Town Square.

For the Kogarah trial, Beam introduced the Saturn 5 e-scooter, with features like wireless phone charging and auditory alerts, as well as improved geofencing capabilities for safer operation alongside other modes of transport.

Georges River Council mayor Sam Elmir said he was excited to rollout the trial.

“It was encouraging to see the level of interest from residents and visitors at the two free Beam Safe Academy e-scooter sessions at Kogarah Town Square recently,” he said.

“We are eager to see results of usage and riders’ feedback captured from Beam, and also feedback from residents and visitors through Council’s Your Say community consultation which is now open.

“Public feedback will give us an understanding of the future viability with e-scooters in the Georges River area, and help inform the future of micromobility in NSW.”

Geofencing technology controls where e-scooters can be ridden and how fast they can travel, as well as ensuring they are parked appropriately.

The shared e-scooters will be limited to 20km/h on roads within the trial area, they have a speed limit of 50km/h or less and they are not permitted on footpaths.

Currently only e-scooters provided through a shared scheme are permitted for use in trial areas. Privately owned e-scooters cannot be used in public in NSW.

E-scooter provider Beam has rolled out 60 e-scooters.

Beam’s AI-powered pedestrian shield technology detects surfaces and identifies whether an e-scooter is travelling on footpaths, streets or bike lanes.

Riders can be educated on safe riding with specific in-trip and post-trip feedback.

Beam NSW operations manager Ned Dale said safety was the company’s first priority and “we are committed to enforcing safe riding, in collaboration with the police”.

“We invest in rider education, prevention and deterrence, but above all, even the safest e-scooter requires a safer rider, and we ask that people do the right thing – that means wear a helmet, follow the road rules,” he said.

The Beam Safe Academy will be in place to educate riders on local rules and safe handling of e-scooters.

Every rider gets a pre-trip in-app safety briefing and Beam safety ambassadors are set to patrol high-traffic areas.

People riding or parking badly can be hit with suspension under a three-strike policy, while those caught breaking the law face permanent bans.