e-Scooters Set For Legalisation in UK Under New Regulations

A UK Government announcement on new regulations to allow the legalisation of private-use e-scooters coincided with Bird’s unveiling of its Google-powered visual parking system, which “enforces scooter parking with pinpoint accuracy”.

London, UK Private-use e-scooters are set to be legalised for use in public spaces in the UK, after the Government announced it will introduce new regulations for smaller, lighter and low-speed micromobility vehicles. The Department of Transport’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Baroness Vere of Norbiton, last week told parliament a new transport Bill would create a “low-speed,…

New R&D Hub Central to Beam Expansion in Australia

Beam’s proposed research and development hub in Australia will spearhead future develop of its vehicles to comply with laws in this country.

Scooter and e-bike share service provider Beam has announced it will establish a research and development hub in Australia, motivated partly by variables in the legislation governing e-rideables in each of the States. Beam, Asia Pacific’s largest micromobility operator, is yet to confirm where the centre will be based within Australia but has stated it…

Fringe Academies to Head Off Bad Scooter Behaviour

Adelaide Fringe Ambassador Reuben Kaye and Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello.

Adelaide, South Australia Who said road safety is no laughing matter? Share scooter operator Beam is continuing its partnership with the Adelaide Fringe for a third consecutive year, teaming up as the festival’s official e-mobility partner. This year’s partnership is launching a ‘Summer of Safety’ campaign featuring SA celebrity Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello and Fringe artists.…

Acton Purchase Offers Cities End-To-End Solutions

Acton micromobility fleet

Harjumaa, Estonia A fusion of two micromobility companies in the US and Estonia is poised to provide cities with end-to-end mobility ecosystems. Silicon Valley company Acton, which provides hardware and software for micromobility fleets, has announced it is purchasing Duckt, an Estonian start-up producing docking and charging infrastructure. Acton has issued a statement saying the acquisition…

Tasmania Legalises E-scooters

e-Scooters have been legalised in Tasmania in time for summer.

Hobart, Tasmania e-Scooters have been legalised in Tasmania after the State parliament amended Tasmania’s Traffic Act last month. The Government delivered on its election commitment to allow privately-owned and share scheme scooters on shared paths and selected local roads. “I’m very pleased to report that e-scooters will be hitting our streets this summer, providing a…

Paris Scooter Speeds Reduced to Address Accidents

The City of Paris initially reduced speed limits for e-scooters at a dozen locations with high levels of pedestrian traffic but has now extended the speed crackdown to virtually all of the city.

Paris, France Share scooters in Paris are being restricted to 10 km/h for all but a few streets, in response to a large number of pedestrian injuries involving electric scooters. Paris has been an important market for scooter sharing companies and the three that received permits to operate in the city have done extremely well…

ACT Scooter Share Schemes Tipped to Expand

Escooters in Canberra

Canberra, ACT Although there will not be an official announcement until July, results of a major government survey and comments made by local politicians are pointing towards a likely continuation and expansion of Canberra’s current scooter share schemes. The survey of 1,907 people found that 65% of respondents supported the current scheme, 16% were neutral…

An Insider’s Perspective of Australia’s E-Scooter Share Schemes

Adelaide escooters

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.

Lime to Invest $64 Million Into Ebike Share as it Eyes Float

Lime eBikes

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

MMfE Website

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.