The City of Adelaide has granted urban mobility companies Beam and Ride permits to begin operating e-scooters across the CBD from next week.
The companies will now be permitted to deploy e-scooters from Monday 15 April for a six-month period.
The selection of Beam and Ride follows an expression of interest (EOI) process conducted by the City of Adelaide with the assistance of the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI).
Four shortlisted operators were assessed on a range of criteria, including demonstrated ability to restrict an e-scooter’s speed, braking effectiveness, as well as the use of ‘preferred parking’ technology to help with managing on-street e-scooter parking in the future.
Each proponent was asked to demonstrate ways that that their e-scooters can be controlled to make sure the operators can provide the safest and most responsible on-street operation possible.
During February and March, the City of Adelaide (together with DPTI) ran a trial with a single operator, Lime, to test e-scooters as a new ‘small vehicle’ mobility option on the city’s streets.
This trial was then extended into April while the City of Adelaide carried out the EOI process for up to two operators.
The City of Adelaide will now request Lime to cease operations across the City of Adelaide after it was unsuccessful in its bid to secure one of the two new permits.
Director Operations Beth Davidson-Park said the second trial would end in mid-October, with the outcome to inform future permanent regulations governing e-scooter operations in the city.
“The first trial clearly showed e-scooters are a convenient form of transport with more than 140,000 trips recorded and we’re confident that they will continue to be popular as Beam and Ride commence operations next week,” said Ms Davidson-Park.
“The City of Adelaide is glad to support the continuation of this trial and pleased to announce these two new operators, providing people with even more options for getting around our city.
“The e-scooters will be available throughout the city and the operators have also advised Council they will be hiring local employees, which is good news.
“I encourage anyone who has been using e-scooters in the city to download Beam and Ride’s apps and for people curious about e-scooters to test out the new technology.”
The e-scooter permit will be geographically limited to the area within the city, bounded by West Terrace, North Terrace, the River Torrens, East Terrace and South Terrace.
Should they be ridden beyond the geofenced area or into Rundle Mall (where they are not permitted to be ridden) the e-scooters notify the users and safely slow to a stop.
Ms Davidson-Park said Council had retained the right to review and amend the maximum number of e-scooters throughout the permit period.
“Finally, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the current operator, Lime, for taking part in the first trial on our streets.”
