City gets ready to scoot
E-scooters are set to become the newest mode of transport to hit Auckland’s streets and footpaths this month, with two companies launching fleets of the vehicles.
Bike-sharing company Onzo and San Francisco company Lime will go wheel to wheel, as their competing electric scooters look to combat Auckland’s transport problems and create an economic travel solution.
Lime Lime e-scooters are being unleashed onto the streets from today, with 600 distributed across Auckland and 400 in Christchurch.
New Zealand Lime launcher Hank Rowe said NZ had been a priority market for some time after the company’s success in markets across Europe and the United States.
“We have carefully considered how to maximise the benefit of our e-scooters in New Zealand,” Rowe said. “The advantage of our e-scooters is they work together with existing public transit by allowing increasing the accessibility of public transport so people can rely less on personal cars.”
Despite the company marketing it as an economic and green travel solution, some major cities have wondered whether e-scooters are a public nuisance. However, Lime said it had worked with local authorities and the NZ Transport Agency to consider all risks and safety concerns.
“The scooters have a top speed of about 25km/h and the accelerator cuts off after that.”
It was not necessary to wear a helmet, but the company encouraged users to do so. Rowe said the scooters would be picked up by independent contractors at night to avoid any clutter.
Onzo will be adding 2500 e-scooters to its bike-share fleet.
An initial 500 will hit the streets this month.
The NZTA website says e-scooters do not require registration or a driver’s licence if maximum power output does not exceed 300W.