Recent decisions by the Melbourne City and Sunshine Coast councils to end contracts with operators of shared e-scooters have reignited debate around this form of transport. It ticks many sustainability boxes, yet continues to make headlines for the wrong reasons.
In addition to “reckless” rider behaviour, a more recent concern has involved allegations of e‑scooter schemes exceeding contracted caps on numbers and misreporting data. This has prompted Brisbane, Canberra and Townsville in Australia and Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand to cancel the operator Beam’s licence in their cities. Beam Mobility has said it is unable to comment until a legal firm it appointed has completed an investigation.
Embroiled within the e‑scooter debate is a more fundamental issue: are we talking about shared e‑scooters for hire, or personal e‑scooters, which people can buy online for as little as a few hundred dollars? The report to the Sunshine Coast Council noted:
