Dockless electric scooter-share scheme zooms in on Brisbane

Electric scooters could soon be scattered around Brisbane for anyone to find with a mobile app for a short zoom through the streets.

The San Francisco-based start-up Lime last month launched 900 of its hire-on-demand electric scooters in New Zealand's two largest cities, Christchurch and Auckland, with plans to bring them to Brisbane and Melbourne soon.

US company Lime plans to introduce an electric scooter-share scheme to Brisbane and Melbourne.

Unlike Brisbane's CityCycle scheme, Lime scooters don't use docking stations. Instead, users find and unlock them on city streets using a map on a mobile app.

The scooters can travel at speeds of up to 27km/h, with a maximum range of 48 kilometres, and can be left anywhere within a certain area.

The scooters cost $1 to unlock and 30 cents a minute, and in New Zealand they can be ridden on the road, footpath and cycling paths.

The details of where they would be allowed to be ridden in Brisbane were still being worked out, but people would be encouraged to use cycle lanes and would be legally required to wear Lime-provided helmets.

Livia Looper pushes LimeBike scooters in San Francisco, California, in May this year. Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg.

Scooters from Lime and other similar companies such as Bird have been controversial in many of their launch cities around the world. Fans raved about their utility, particularly in travelling the so-called "last mile" to and from public transport while critics argued they were a nuisance and a hazard to pedestrians.

A team of "juicers" will be employed through a crowd-sourced, contractor model, similar to Uber drivers, to recharge and reposition the scooters in Brisbane.

It comes as Lime this week distributed 300 of its electric dock-free bicycles in the Sydney CBD, with plans to increase that number in response to market demand.

Lime Australia and New Zealand government affairs and strategy director Mitchell Price said the company had worked closely with authorities and stakeholders for the Sydney launch to mitigate safety concerns.

"Lime's electric bikies have become hugely popular in cities, similar to Sydney, such as Seattle, whose community is looking for cleaner, cheaper and more accessible transportation," he said.

"The advantage of our electric bikes is they work together with existing public transit by increasing the accessibility of public transport so people can rely less on personal cars.

"Sydney's need for innovative transport solutions, which cater to the first and last mile, gives us confidence we will see high uptake of Lime electric bikes within the community."

The electric bicycles contain a lithium battery, which is replaced every two days by operational staff, and allows users to ride at speeds up to 23.8km/h, even over hilly terrain.

A team of 50 operations workers and mechanics were employed in Sydney to respond to customer inquiries.

Brisbane and Melbourne are next in Lime's sights, where instead of electric bikes, the company plans to introduce electric scooters.

Earlier this week, Lime launched a three-month electric scooter pilot at Monash University in Melbourne.

The company has been in conversation with the Brisbane City Council and Queensland government about its plans.

The US company has launched its products in more than 120 cities worldwide after beginning in 2017.