Report reveals level of public support for continuation of hire-and-ride e-scooters in Hobart

With the current permit for hire-and-ride e-scooter services set to expire in May, local residents have sent a clear message to the city council about whether or not the devices should stay on our streets.

The Hobart City Council is set to decide on the future of hire-and-ride e-scooter services. Picture: Chris Kidd

Hobart’s hire-and-ride e-scooter service has the backing of the local community and is resulting in low numbers of injuries and traffic infringements, the city council says, while also acknowledging “inappropriate” parking of the devices “remains a concern”.

Michael Stretton, the CEO of the Hobart City Council, has produced a report on e-scooter services operated in the city by micromobility companies Beam and Neuron since December 2021.

Beam was awarded an exclusive permit to provide hire-and-ride e-scooters in Hobart in April last year.

A new report has shed light on the level of public support for e-scooters in Hobart. Picture: Linda Higginson

Four months later, however, the company was embroiled in a scandal over allegations it deliberately placed ‘phantom’ scooters on streets in Australia and New New Zealand in a bid to increase profits and deprive councils of revenue.

Beam has strongly denied these claims but has conceded it ran a program to “optimise” the number of “operational” scooters available to the public in some jurisdictions, apologising for this having led to vehicle caps being exceeded in certain areas.

The Hobart City Council did not identify any instances of Beam breaching its permit conditions in the city.

Elected members of the council will discuss Mr Stretton’s report and consider the future of the e-scooter service at a workshop committee meeting next Tuesday, with the current permit set to expire in May.

Under Beam’s permit – which will provide about $90,000 in revenue to the council in 2024-25 – an average of 13,056 e-scooter trips have been completed and an average distance of 19,735km covered per month, servicing 3906 users and saving 3709kg of CO2 emissions.

“Accordingly, e-Scooter usage is continuing to make a small contribution to reducing vehicle congestion within the city, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” the report said.

Michael Stretton, the City of Hobart CEO. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The report details the results of a phone survey conducted by market research firm Ipsos between December 5 and 15 last year, gauging community sentiment in relation to Hobart’s hire-and-ride e-scooters.

Four-hundred residents were surveyed and 57 per cent said they supported the continuation of e-scooter services in the city, while 22 per cent were opposed and 20 per cent were neutral.

The level of support has increased by 4 per cent since a similar survey was conducted in 2022.

However, e-scooter parking continues to be a problem, with a recent council audit finding that 38 per cent of the dockless devices were “inappropriately parked”.

“It is clear that the parking of e-scooters remains an issue for their continued use within the city,” the report said.

The council has installed 17 marked footpath zones to guide e-scooter users to appropriate places to park the devices, while Beam has also rolled out AI parking audit technology.

The CEO’s report found there had been 22 ‘near miss’ incidents and injuries associated with Beam e-scooters during the permit period between May and December last year. Seven injuries required first aid and three required hospital admission.

Tasmania Police issued four infringement notices for e-scooter offences between December 1, 2023 and November 30, 2024, including for carrying an additional person, failure to wear a helmet, and using a mobile phone while riding an e-scooter.

Since the permit commenced, Beam has hit riders with 16 first offence warnings, one final warning, and four suspensions.

The council will discuss the potential to introduce docking infrastructure for e-scooters at its Tuesday meeting, as well as the possibility of providing hire-and-ride e-bikes in Hobart.

Originally published as Report reveals level of public support for continuation of hire-and-ride e-scooters in Hobart