Scooter Hirers Spend More – Study Reveals

By Phil Latz | 12th August 2021 |

Townsville City Centre — Most of the scooter hires occurred within this central section of Townsville that includes the harbour, CBD and oceanfront.

Townsville, Queensland

A major study of scooter hiring tourists in Townsville has revealed that the more they rode, the more they spent at local businesses including shops and restaurants.

Griffith University’s Cities Research Institute conducted the study in partnership with Neuron Mobility, who operate a scooter hire service in Townsville.

Running between December 2020 and February 2021, the survey collected shopping and travel patterns of 140 visiting e-scooter users, as well as the patterns of 80 Townsville residents.

Many of these users said they did not need to use a car thanks to the e-scooters. This meant they were able to travel the Townsville CBD and the Strand without clogging the already busy roadways.

Across all the e-scooter users surveyed, most (69%) had never ridden an e-scooter before, but 91% reported they were easy to use. Confirming the positive impact of e-scooters on both city image and visitor experience, 93% said they enjoyed travelling within Townsville.

Table showing Townsville scooter data — This table shows that the more tourists ride, the more they spend. Table compiled by Dr Abraham Leung, Griffith University Source: Neuron E-Scooters and Tourist Dispersal Survey. Created with Datawrapper. Previously posted in The Conversation.

A major misconception is that e-scooter riders tend to be younger and mostly men. Our survey found instead that 46% of the visitors who used the e-scooters were over the age of 40, many of them much older than that. The majority (55%) were female.

Of the visitors, avid users spent more money at restaurants and cafes, dining in. Light users spent a greater proportion on shopping and services.

You can read a much more detailed article about this study here in The Conversation.