Beam becomes second fleet of shared e-scooters in Canberra

Beam Mobility's purple e-scooters hit Canberra's streets on Thursday.

It comes almost a month after the first set of e-scooters were launched. The bright orange e-scooters from Neuron Mobility have proved to be a hit with Canberrans.

Beam's purple e-scooters will kick off their launch by offering free rides on Saturday during polling hours.

"We are excited to launch in Canberra and provide a safe, affordable, environmentally-friendly transportation option," Beam general manager for Australia and New Zealand Khoa Pham said.

Beam said they would have increased cleaning of the scooters and helmets.

"We have seen first hand the impact of COVID on communities across Australia and Beam is committed to providing a safe and healthy journey to every rider," Mr Pham said.

Beam said their scooters would have "virtual docking". They said riders docking areas would be created virtually by using technology and GPS to direct riders to appropriate parking spots.

The ACT government worked to set up the shared e-scooter scheme after the vehicles were legalised last year. The government undertook an expression of interest process where Beam and Neuron were selected to provide the scooters.

The scooters can be used in Canberra's inner north, inner south and Belconnen. Geofencing technology blocks the scooters from prohibited areas. If a user rides out of a permitted zone an e-scooter is immobilsed.

Neuron was forced to update its geofencing technology to stops scooters from being parked on national land. It came after National Capital Authority chief executive Sally Barnes told a parliamentary hearing last week the vehicles had been "turning up in places where they weren't meant to be".

Beam and Neuron will provide 750 scooters each.