Beam scooters off the streets, new operator to be wheeled out

Permanent removal of Beam e-scooters from Brisbane is under way, following allegations the company defrauded the city with hundreds of “ghost” devices.

About 1000 vehicles were taken off the streets last week. About the same number again were yet to be collected.

A new operator would be introduced, a council spokesperson told this masthead.

Beam has rejected the council findings, and suggested it may take action against the decision to cancel its contract.Credit: Brisbane Times / William Davis

Rival e-scooter company Lime was set to roll out additional vehicles to make up for a shortage during the transition period.

“I want to reassure the public there are no operational or safety issues with the scheme,” transport chair councillor Ryan Murphy said in a statement.

“While these matters are disappointing, we remain confident e-mobility has a strong place in the transport future of our city.”

A months-long investigation into Beam by Brisbane City Council found the company was “systematically” exceeding its cap of 1800 scooters across the city by about 500 every day, depriving the council of about $330,000.

It allegedly misreported its number of vehicles almost a quarter of a million times in the year leading up to July 22, 2024.

“What we found is that Beam were using the ‘unknown’ state – when the scooter has its battery low, or it is broken – to significantly under-report the number of scooters they had operating,” councillor Murphy said.

“There were ‘ghost scooters’ operating in Brisbane for over a year and our own regulator didn’t have the data feed to tell us this was happening.”

Beam has rejected the findings, and suggested it might take action against the decision to cancel its contract.

“The decision is surprising given our positive interactions with the council on this matter to-date,” the company said.

“We disagree with the reported assertions and claims made by Brisbane City Council on this matter and believe council’s findings are highly premature. We will now be reviewing our options.”

It comes after Brisbane Times published exclusive data revealing the extent of e-scooter injuries across the city.

About 1326 people were admitted to hospital with e-scooter injuries last financial year across Queensland, with 480 of them treated at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

A poll of 738 readers found 72 per cent wanted the city to ban e-scooters outright, with 22 per cent opposed to the idea, and 6 per cent undecided.

“Our emergency departments are full of people who have been injured on e-scooters,” Queensland Attorney-General and former health minister Yvette D’Ath said.

“I’ve driven around these busy cities and turned a corner to find a scooter lying on the road and someone on the footpath.

“We need people to take responsibility when they’re using these e-scooters to keep themselves safe, to wear the helmets, to watch the speeds, and to watch people on the footpaths, because they are doing harm – serious harm.

“We’ve seen kids losing their lives on e-scooters.”

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