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Australia’s largest e-scooter scheme now available across Canberra

Eliza Sayon Dec 8, 2022

2 min read

The ACT Government’s popular e-scooter scheme is now available city-wide, bringing sustainable, convenient travel to the whole of Canberra.

“With shared e-scooters now available across the entirety of our city, Canberrans can travel north to south and east to west using a range of shared paths and connecting links,” Minister for Transport Chris Steel said.

“This will make Canberra Australia’s largest shared e-scooter city – with our operating area now covering more than 132 square kilometres.”

The ACT Government has been working closely with Beam and Neuron to develop the right approach for rolling out the entire scheme by implementing slow zones, designated parking sites and no parking zones.

“The scheme has proven to be incredibly popular, and allows Canberrans from all walks of life to make convenient trips in their local area, or connect to larger journeys using public transport,” Minister Steel said.

The e-scooter scheme, which became incredibly popular with more than 2.4 million trips taken since they were first trialled in 2020, will be available in over fourteen suburbs across Canberra.

“E-scooters are a great way for locals as well as tourists to travel in a safe, convenient and sustainable way,” Neuron Mobility Head of ANZ Richard Hannah said.

“Recent rider research shows the majority of Neuron trips result in a purchase at a local business and this is providing a welcome boost to the local economy.”

Beam’s Canberra Operations Manager Ned Dale states that, aside from their commitment to bringing e-scooters into Canberra, they have also commenced a trial of tactile signage on their e-scooters to support pedestrians.

“As we expand our footprint further in Canberra, we’re committed to introducing new innovative technology and upgrades to our e-scooters to improve safety for all Canberrans who use the roads,” he said.

“We are also increasing the number of Beam Safety Ambassadors – team members who enforce riding rules – on the streets, keeping a particular eye out on offences like dangerous riding around pedestrians and bad parking.”

Both e-scooter providers will continue to host come and try pop-ups across Canberra to make sure the community can learn how to safely operate an e-scooter.

Source: ACT Government media release. Content was edited for style and length.

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.