Bike and Scooter Share
This category includes both docked, non-docked and hybrid bike share systems and scooter share system, including electric and non electric devices.
Lime’s New Features Should Reduce Hiring Stress
Bike and Scooter Share is Booming in Darwin
An Insider’s Perspective of Australia’s E-Scooter Share Schemes
Colourful e-scooters on footpaths, in parks and at bus stops, have become common place in several Australian cities in a very short time. They range in colour from green, orange, purple and yellow, depending on the operator.
Periodically, cities have changed colours, authorising different operators to host e-scooter hire schemes in their city. The dominant operators in Australia are currently Beam (purple), Neuron Mobility (orange) and Lime (green).
Since Lime initiated Australian services in Brisbane in late 2018, with over 50,000 rides being taken in the first two weeks, other cities have been quick to follow. In just over two years, e-scooter hire schemes have been approved in Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Charles Sturt (north-western Adelaide), Port Adelaide, Townsville, West Torrens (western Adelaide), Canberra and Bunbury.
NSW Abandons E-scooter Trial – Minister ‘Not in the Mood’
The NSW government has abandoned plans for an electric scooter trial in Sydney despite a national push to legalise the mobility devices.
Electric scooters are illegal on roads and footpaths in NSW, but sales continue to grow.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance says he was “not in the mood” to have e-scooters on Sydney streets, even though his department ran a lengthy process recommending conditions for holding a trial.
Lime to Invest $64 Million Into Ebike Share as it Eyes Float
Market leading Lime is getting back to its roots. The scooter company formerly known as LimeBike announced in late February 2021 that it will invest US$50 million (A$64 million) to grow its shared electric bicycle network, including adding a new model of bike and doubling the number of cities in which it operates.
Lime got its start with shared bikes, only to quickly pivot after Bird first introduced the concept of dockless electric scooters in 2017. The company dropped the ‘bike’ from its name and started phasing out its bikes in 2019. But the following year, Lime acquired bike-share company Jump from Uber, and suddenly, bikes were back on the menu.
Major Scooter Companies Launch Industry Coalition
E-scooter operators have come together to form a new coalition, Micromobility for Europe (MMfE), which launched officially on 2nd February 2021.
Comprised of eight founding members, Bird, Bolt, Dott, FreeNow, Lime, Tier, Voi, and Wind, the coalition aims to contribute to the development of a coherent policy framework in Europe that will ensure micromobility solutions flourish in European cities and support the rapid transition to zero-emission urban mobility.
Chinese Bikeshare Company Looks Set to Raise $1.3 Billion
Qingju, which is the bike sharing unit of Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing as raised US$600 million (A780 million) in its Series B round of financing and is set to raise a further US$400 million (A$520 million) in loans, according to the financial media site Deal Street Asia.
A Didi spokesperson said, “Didi Bike (Qingju) has recently completed a Series B fundraising round. With the new investment, we will continue to improve mid and short distance travel in cities, by providing efficient, safe and reliable bike sharing services to the users.
Shared Micromobility Company Pony Wins Start Up Prize
Brussels / Belgium The European Startup Prize for mobility (EUSP) is an EU-founded Acceleration and Investment Programme for sustainable mobility start-ups. This initiative aims to support and scale up smart and sustainable mobility start-ups all across Europe. Each year, 500+ start-ups apply to its Acceleration and Investment programme. The EUSP provides multiple investment opportunities as…
Dockless Ebike Share – A First Time User’s Perspective
I deliberately did not go online to read any instructions in advance. I wanted to see what the experience would be like if I was a casual tourist or local visitor, just hiring on impulse. Phil Latz Sydney / NSW Last year Lime rolled out their re-branded Jump dockless ebike system in Sydney. During a…
Summary of Micromobility Share Systems in Australia
Brisbane / Queensland We recently came across this excellent table of share schemes for capital cities in Australia. It was compiled by Madison Bland and Benjamin Kaufman, both PhD candidates and Abraham Leung a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, all based at the Cities Research Institute at Griffith University in Brisbane, Qld. We anticipate that during 2021,…