Wellington council considers escooter trial

WELLINGTON: An electric scooter trial could start in Wellington by next month, but they would be restricted from being used on the city’s Golden Mile or Botanic Gardens.

A report will be presented to the Wellington City Council’s city strategy committee next week, recommending the start of a trial that could last up to 18 months.

It states that six companies have asked to operate an escooter share scheme in the city, and suggests sanctioning no more than two of the companies to begin a trial.

The report, titled Proposed Evaluation of Public Electric Scooter Share Schemes in Wellington City, recommends having between 600 and 800 scooters in the city at the start of the trial.

Users would be heavily restricted in where they could ride.

The Botanic Gardens would be out of bounds, as would popular shopping streets such as Lambton Quay, Willis St, Manners St, Courtenay Pl and the Cuba Street Mall.

It suggests the main area of use for the scooters would be the Wellington waterfront.

The recommendations also suggest agreeing on a ban on escooter hire in the Courtenay precinct from 9pm Friday to Sunday and on public holidays.

Operators would also have to fork out up to $10,000 to help fund a public safety awareness campaign, in partnership with the council.

On the matter of health and safety, speed limits are mentioned. The report states that some escooters can have their speed limited, and says a 10kmh speed limit on the Wellington waterfront would be enforced.

The report gives an indicative timeframe for introducing a trial, suggesting inviting operator applications between February 21 and 26.

It states the escooter share schemes could begin on March 11.