E-scooter companies jostle for position on Wellington city footpaths

Tuesday, 5 February 2019

Lime scooters could soon be coming to the capital.

A gaggle of electric scooter operators are set to compete for riders on Wellington's streets - although they could be banned from the city's party strip and Golden Mile.

E-scooter sharing has been both hugely popular and beset with problems since Lime launched the service in New Zealand last year.

A spokesman for the Mayor's office, Dave Williams, said six e-scooter companies had put in applications to operate in Wellington City, and a report on the issue was set to go before a council committee next week.

The report recommends only two e-scooter companies be given licences to operate up to 800 e-scooters and that the vehicles be banned from the footpaths of the city's Golden Mile and from Courtenay Place after 9pm Friday through Sunday.

E-scooter company Lime launched in New Zealand with hundreds of scooters scattered across Auckland and Christchurch. (Video first published in October 2018)

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The operators that have applied for e-scooter licences are: Fuutr, Flamingo, Onzo, Lime, Scoot and Blip.

Six companies have expressed interest in running dockless e-scooter services in Wellington.

Lime operates in Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin and the Hutt Valley and have plans to roll their e-scooter scheme out nationwide.

Transport sharing company Lime has launched its operation in Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt with around 400 e-scooters. (First published December 2018).

While the Hutt Valley has had Lime scooters since December, Wellington City Council decided against trialling e-scooters before Onzo's bike-sharing trial was complete.

Lime was the only operator of dockless e-scooter ride-sharing services in New Zealand, but overseas several companies compete with the firm including Spin, Scoot, Skip, and Bird.

News of Onzo's potential entry into the e-scooter market leaked last week when prices for e-scooters, 10 cents cheaper than Lime's offering, appeared on the Onzo bike-sharing app.

Lime's launch has been marred by safety concerns and ACC payouts but the service has also proved popular, with users clocking 600,000 rides by the end of last year.

Eastern Ward councillor Sarah Free, who holds the council's cycling portfolio, said many of the e-scooter accidents had affected riders rather than pedestrians.

'Other cities have done it and Wellington should do it as well, but there's people who have approached me from the disability community, and older people, who are really nervous.'

Councillor Simon Woolf said he believed competition in the e-scooter market would be a positive thing as long as all operators signed up to a safety protocol.

'Whether the council allows one, two, three, or six operators through a trial I don't know, but when it comes down to it competition usually is healthy.'

Councillor Fleur Fitzsimmons said safety concerns needed to be addressed, but was supportive of e-scooters.

'I think e-scooters offer a great opportunity for another active mode of transport which is good for reducing emissions and fun for residents.'The issue would be debated at a City Strategy Committee meeting on February 14.