Disability advocates and groups were given the opportunity to engage with e-scooter vendors at a forum held at Hobart Town Hall yesterday.
Hosted by the City of Hobart, the forum was an opportunity for e-scooter vendors, Beam and Neuron, to inform the community on safety protocols, as well as operational procedures to maintain the fleets across the city.
“I think this is an important conversation to be having as we continue the e-scooter trial in the city,” A City of Hobart spokesperson said. “Whilst over 70% of the feedback that we have received has been positive, it’s important that our whole community feels safe and informed.”
The vendors detailed safety technology that is currently available on the e-scooters, as well as safety systems that are currently in development for rollout in future. In addition, options for reporting misuse and bad parking, which includes a phone contact number, email address, as well as reporting via the app and additional methods.
Both Beam and Neuron are working together to ensure any issues with trial e-scooters are resolved quickly. The benefit of this open communication between both vendors is that if an e-scooter that is causing obstruction or has fallen over is reported to the alternate company, this information is passed on to allow the scooter to be moved or collected.
As the forum was an opportunity for open and frank discussion between community members, the vendors, and the City of Hobart; attendees also heard from various members of the community about their experiences with scooters, both positive and negative.
Changes are made weekly to the trial in response to community concerns as the trial continues, and there have now been over a quarter of a million rides in Hobart.
