Hobart councillors Marti Zucco and Louise Elliot call for immediate removal of Beam e-scooters

The Hobart City Council is facing calls to immediately remove hire e-scooters from the streets as the company delivering the service finds itself embroiled in a scandal.

Two Hobart councillors are calling for Beam e-scooters to be removed from the city after the company became embroiled in a scandal. Picture: Chris Kidd

The Hobart City Council is facing calls from within its own ranks to immediately remove hire e-scooters from the streets as the company contracted to deliver the service faces allegations of fraudulent conduct in other jurisdictions.

Beam Mobility, which has had exclusive rights to provide hire-and-ride e-scooters in Hobart since May, has vehemently rejected claims it engaged in a deliberate scheme to put ‘phantom’ scooters in Australian cities in an effort to boost its profits while depriving local governments of revenue.

The company’s CEO Alan Jiang told the Mercury on Wednesday that Beam had undertaken a program to “optimise” the number of “operational” scooters available to the public in “some” jurisdictions, and apologised for this having led to vehicle caps being exceeded in certain areas.

Councillors Marti Zucco and Louise Elliot want Beam e-scooters removed from Hobart’s streets. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The Australian newspaper reported that at least five councils in Australia and New Zealand were conducting investigations into Beam’s alleged conduct, with Auckland Council announcing it had ordered Beam out of the city after its probe found the company had deployed scooters “well above the permitted limit in its licence”.

The Hobart City Council contacted Beam after the allegations came to light last weekend, and has not found any indication of the company having behaved inappropriately here.

Councillors Marti Zucco and Louise Elliot are pushing for the contract with Beam Mobility to be torn up in the wake of the scandal.

They have also expressed concerns about the risks they say scooters pose to riders and pedestrians.

“The issues haven’t stopped since hundreds of e-scooters were first dumped on our footpaths. I constantly see people riding without helmets, they create serious hazards for pedestrians and now the company [is] embroiled in [an alleged] fraud scandal,” Cr Zucco said.

Cr Elliot said the council “must cease doing business with a company like [Beam]”.

“I’ve seen too many photos of X-rays where locals have had their ankles and collarbones screwed back together … Enough is enough,” she said.

Hobart City Council Sustainability in Infrastructure Portfolio Chair Cr Bill Harvey. Picture: Chris Kidd

From 2022-2023, more than 400,000 trips were logged on Beam e-scooters across Hobart and there were 36 reported incidents, including 28 accidents with no injury, two minor injuries, two moderate injuries, and four serious injuries requiring ambulance and/or hospital admission.

A report by peer-reviewed medical journal Emergency Medicine Australasia published an article in 2023 that concluded Hobart’s e-scooter trial had been “associated with few major injuries”.

Cr Bill Harvey, who chairs Hobart’s sustainability in infrastructure portfolio, said the council had immediately commenced an investigation into Beam after the allegations became public.

“While our initial investigation has not identified any issues in Hobart, as is appropriate we are continuing our investigation to ensure Beam has complied with its contract and to explore all issues and options for the council to consider,” he said.

“A report on the investigation is currently being prepared and will be considered by the council in due course and therefore it is not possible to speculate on any actions concerning the current licence agreement with Beam at this time.”