Perth Voice Interactive

THE City of Vincent says it has no plans to follow Melbourne council’s lead and cancel e-scooter contracts over safety and amenity concerns, but is considering dedicated parking to prevent footpath clutter.

On Tuesday Melbourne’s lord mayor Nicholas Reece dramatically derailed plans for its providers Neuron and Lime to present new safety features and instead successfully moved to have their contracts cancelled, saying he was “fed up” with poor behaviour by e-scooter riders.

Mr Reece later told Radio National he believed about half the e-riders he’d see standing out the front of his council building were ignoring the law and riding without helmets, speeding or hogging footpaths.

He said there were complaints for businesses tired of their customers being inconvenienced, while several medicos fronted the council meeting saying the rise in e-scooters had led to a sharp increase in accidents, about half involving head injuries.

Mr Reece pointed to Paris’s decision to ban e-scooters as a precedent, although he acknowledged that under Victoria’s traffic laws people were still entitled to bring their private scooters into the City.

But Vincent CEO David MacLennan told the Voice they hadn’t had the same issues as Melbourne and had received “minimal” complaints, mostly about ignoring rules, colliding with pedestrians, parking locations and roads or footpaths being blocked by fallen scooters.

He also pointed out that one of the City’s providers, Neuron Mobility, had done research which showed definite benefits for local traders.

“Feedback we have received from Neuron is that 62 per cent of trips on their e-scooters resulted in a purchase from a local business – 20 per cent of which were over $50,” Mr MacLennan said.

Similar results were provided by the City’s other provider Beam.

Research by Neuron also found that nearly half e-scooter trips replaced a car journey, avoiding 1553 tonnes of CO2 emissions, and supported the nighttime economy.

“We are actively engaging with local businesses to address their feedback and ensure that designated parking locations for e-scooters do not negatively impact their operations,” Mr MacLennan said.

“Additionally, we are exploring the possibility of creating dedicated e-scooter parking areas to minimise clutter on the footpaths and enhance the overall pedestrian experience.”

Mr MacLennan said Neuron and Beam had systems to ensure users wore helmets, but Vincent hadn’t been monitoring any lawless behaviour as that was a police job.

“Should there be evidence of high levels of unlawful share e-scooter use, we will work collaboratively with our providers and other agencies such as the City of Perth, WA Police and Road Safety Commission on suitable solutions.

“With the increasing popularity of e-scooters, both in terms of shared hire usage and private ownership, it is important that education around safety and rider courtesy continues to be a key focus in the community.”

The City of Perth also has e-scooter contracts, but it said a couple of its key experts were away this week and they’d get back to us for the next edition.

by STEVE GRANT