Council votes to continue e-scooter services in Hobart under a licence arrangement

E-scooter lovers will have something to beam about, after council gave the green light to keep the transport option, with some conditions. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW >>

Sam, Jennifer and Matt Sweetman on e-scooters. Picture: Linda Higginson

E-scooter lovers will have something to beam about, after council gave the green light to keep the transport option open for Hobart residents.

Council voted in favour to grant licences to e-scooter operators in Hobart once the trial ends in June, making the sometimes polarising service permanent.

In December 2021, Hobart City Council gave two micromobility companies, Beam and Neuron, permission to hire out e-scooters in the city under a 12-month trial.

The devices have proven controversial, with a number of accidents, hospitalisations, and bad rider behaviour leading to a level of frustration in the community.

The decision comes after councillors were presented with findings from the trial, prepared by council officers, which showed there were more than 600,000 rides taken since December 2021, with more than half of these replacing car travel.

Matt, Jennifer and Sam Sweetman on e-scooters. Picture: Linda Higginson

There were four serious e-scooter incidents in the 12 months to December 2022, requiring 24 hours or more in hospital, and 25 minor incidents requiring some form of first aid or medical intervention.

The usage of e-scooters declined by 67 per cent across the trial.

The trial data also found that the council’s objectives of reducing inner-city traffic congestion and parking demand had been achieved.

Councillor Ryan Posselt, who is the chair of the council’s City Mobility Committee, said while he and his colleagues recognised there were “some continued issues with poor behaviour and with parking on streets”, they had decided that “the benefits (of e-scooters) outweigh the risks”.

During the trial, there were 604,516 rides taken on e-scooters.

“Although the [trip] distances were quite short, with many of them being under one kilometre, in fact, 20 per cent of cars moving around our city are only moving one kilometre. So it’s replacing that journey,” he said.

A community survey conducted by the council showed that 53 per cent of 2048 respondents supported the continued use of e-scooters in Hobart.

Beam general manager for Australia and New Zealand welcomed the decision. Picture: Linda Higginson

Josh Wise, a student with vision constraints, said he was unable to obtain a driver’s licence and e-scooters enabled him to move around the city swiftly.

“I find them extremely helpful and it creates really good independence for myself and I just love them for that reason,” he said.

Council will install marked e-scooter parking bays throughout the city in an effort to encourage responsible use of the devices.

Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said she would be writing to the state government to urge the construction of more transit lanes and stronger enforcement and stressed that licence conditions would take into account the trial findings, particularly regarding the reduction of footpath obstruction.

Licence fees will be invested into shared on-street parking stations and transit lanes for bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters.

Neuron’s Lachlan McLean welcomed the council’s decision, saying people had travelled 450,000 kilometres on the company’s scooters since they launched in Hobart and “feedback has been extremely positive”.

Beam general manager for Australia and New Zealand, Tom Cooper, said the shift away from cars was “vital” as the city’s population grew and as car congestion increased.

He said Beam would soon introduce more technology to improve rider education and enforcement across the city, including scaling footpath detection systems and upgrading Beam’s fleet to enhance rider enforcement in real time.