Escooters taking off in NZ cities
CHRISTCHURCH: It’s the latest and greenest way to travel.
Lime escooters appear to have taken New Zealand by storm, as the company’s app was most popular in the New Zealand app store after its launch on Monday.
Since Lime released 600 and 400 dockfree scooters in Auckland and Christchurch respectively, its app has risen 384 places to No 1 in the app store.
Using the app, scooter users can unlock a scooter for $1 and pay 30c per minute to use the machines.
People employed as independent contractors called ‘‘juicers’’ would collect the scooters about 9pm, recharge them and distribute them about 4am the next day. The location of the scooters can be seen through the app.
‘‘We are seeing a huge amount of demand,’’ Lime launcher Cameron Swanson said.
‘‘The fact that we’re No 1 in the app store, above Instagram and Facebook, is exceptional.’’
It was the first launch of the scooter in the southern hemisphere. Mr Swanson said there would be a review after three months to establish whether more scooters were needed and if other areas should get them.
He said it was likely the number of scooters in Auckland and Christchurch would be increased to 2500 and 1500 respectively.
The scooters travel about 23kmh and the use of helmets was advised but is not compulsory. ‘‘The beauty of the programme is that the scooters don’t necessarily need to be returned to a specific location, they can be wherever within our geofenced zone.’’
Mr Swanson said the scooters were secure as they required the app to be unlocked and could not be hacked.