Electric scooter rental scheme to hit Canberra streets next month

Beam Mobility and Neuron Mobility have secured permits to provide up to 750 e-scooters each.

The exact locations of the scooters are still being finalised, but it is expected Canberrans will be able to rent them from the city, the inner north, inner south, and at least one other region.

Transport Minister Chris Steel said he expected the scheme to be popular with Canberrans and visitors to the city.

"The ACT government will now work with the two successful operators to finalise the operational arrangements to ensure the scheme is rolled out to be safe, convenient and accessible," Mr Steel said.

Last month, the ACT government released a policy and guidelines for the operation of a high-quality e-scooter scheme in the ACT. The policy established a competitive expression of interest process to allow for two operators to be selected to operate up to 750 devices each.

Mr Steel said the two providers were chosen because they were best able to demonstrate they could meet the requirements of the policy.

It is anticipated that e-scooters will be available to hire in September.

Beam Mobility is the largest micromobility company in the Asia-Pacific with operations in Auckland, Christchurch, Bunbury, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Taipei.

Neuron is the leading e-scooter operator in Australia and New Zealand. Founded in Singapore in 2016, the company operates in eight locations including Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide and Auckland.

Zachary Wang, CEO of Neuron Mobility said, "After a highly-competitive process, we are delighted to have been selected by the ACT government to provide e-scooters to the city.

The company says it will work closely with the government to tailor the services in the best way for riders and the city. This includes deploying geofencing technology to create slow zones, no parking zones, and no go zones where needed.

"E-scooters are a great way for people to travel in a safe, convenient and socially-distanced way, and elsewhere in Australia they are helping cities bounce back from the pandemic," he said.

Khoa Pham, General Manager, Australia and New Zealand of Beam Mobility said, "Beam is excited and grateful for the opportunity to partner with the ACT government to bring efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly transportation to the people of Canberra."

"Beam will be introducing to Canberra our safest and most advanced e-scooter, the Saturn+, and implementing our virtual docking technology to keep city streets accessible for all."

Some E-scooters were taken off the streets in cities including Brisbane and Adelaide at the beginning of the pandemic, but Mr Steel was confident the scheme could be rolled out safely

E-scooters were legalised in Canberra in December. The can be used on shared paths but are not permitted on roads or on-road bicycle lanes.

They can go up to 15km/h on footpaths and up to 25km/h in other locations.