E-scooter companies impose 15km speed limit in parts of Auckland

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Stuff journalists Nicole Lawton and Ryan Anderson do a head-to-head test of the Lime and Wave e-scooters.

All ride share e-scooters operating in Auckland will have a 15 kilometre speed limit in certain areas of the city.

The news comes as Auckland Council and Auckland Transport announce e-scooter company Flamingo is due to join Lime and Wave in the second phase of the trial.

Auckland Council said it, with Auckland Transport, had completed the application process for the second trial and selected three operators from five applicants.

Flamingo e-scooters will hit Auckland's streets in June.

All three proposed geo-fencing in their applications to implicate safer speed zones in certain parts of the city.

**READ MORE:

Lime e-scooters were the first to come to Auckland in 2018.

* Auckland Council quadruples fees for e-scooter companies

* Flamingos to Jump onto city streets soon as trial e-scooter providers selected for Wellington

Wave e-scooters were introduced on March 13 after being granted a license in late 2018.

* E-scooter firm Lime dodges questions about its action on safety concerns with NZ fleet**

This means the speed of their e-scooters will automatically be reduced when they enter areas including Takapuna, Devonport, Ponsonby Rd, Jervois Rd, Karangahape Rd, the CBD, Auckland City Hospital, Parnell, Newmarket, Mission Bay, Kohimarama and St Heliers.

The newest e-scooter company Flamingo, is based in Wellington.

The company was founded in June 2018 and is taking part in Wellington's e-scooter trial.

The first Flamingos will hit the streets the week of June 9 - with all e-scooters deployed by the end of July.

The council's licensing and regulatory compliance general manager, Craig Hobbs, said he is impressed with the way the programme had progressed since e-scooters were first suggested for Auckland's streets.

'This time last year, we had barely heard of e-scooter ride-share schemes, let alone anticipated having fleets of e-scooters on our streets and footpaths.

'Since mid-October, we have learned a huge amount about how these businesses work, public uptake and perception of e-scooters and how our own licensing framework supports micro-mobility ride-share initiatives like this.'

Auckland Transport chief executive Shane Ellison said AT and the council had prioritised the e-scooter trial for two reasons.

Firstly, more e-scooters were being seen across the city which showed Aucklanders were embracing scooters as a mode of transport.

Also, AT needed to work out safety measures.

'While we have little influence right now on the rules for where e-scooters can be ridden, how fast they can go and wearing of helmets, we have done as much as we can to promote public safety.

'We will continue to work with operators to incentivise safe rider behaviour. We will monitor compliance with the licence conditions, especially around maintenance, responsible parking and incident management, and we will contribute what we learn, to safety improvements at a national level.'

Auckland Council said it had limited number of e-scooters for each operator - with a maximum of 1875 e-scooters operating during the trial.

Lime will have 950, Wave will have 400 and Flamingo will have 525.

With concerns raised following a number of accidents e-scooter riders have had, the code of practice for e-scooters has been updated.

This includes more stringent requirements on safety and risk management, including reporting accidents, regular maintenance requirements and slow speed zones in certain areas.

The second phase of the trial will end on October 31 where the council and AT will evaluate the trial and look at options for the future.

Hobbs said: 'As well as evaluating operations over the six month period, we will be conducting some research, meeting with interest groups, engaging with our counterparts at other councils and looking at what we can contribute to work on micro-mobility at a central government level.

'If the outcome of this trial recommends e-scooter ride-share operations should continue to be licensed, we may also need to look at whether changes to our bylaw are required.'

Lime 'thrilled' with extension

Lime's director of government affairs and strategy Mitchell Price said the company was thrilled to continue operating in Auckland.

'We remain committed to working closely with both Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to provide a safe, clean and accessible transport option for residents and visitors.'

Price said Lime looked forward to getting even more people out of cars and helping ease congestion in Auckland.