Lime scooters licensed to roll on

Auckland Council has extended the Lime e-scooter licence for 10 weeks to the end of March. The announcement was made yesterday morning at a press conference outside the AT offices. AT bosses and a Lime representative attended.

Council chief operating officer Dean Kimpton announced the decision. He said plans to improve safety included pop-up tents and roving ambassadors.

The council and AT were working with

Lime to manage risks, he said.

A review of the trial would determine whether hireable e-scooters become a permanent fixture in the region.

“While they are not everyone’s preferred mode of transport, e-scooters have certainly proven popular in Auckland — we’ve seen significant growth in private ownership of e-scooters, as well as high uptake of rental scooters, in the last few months.

“Initially, three e-scooter operators were expected to participate in this trial over a four-month summer period. Their licences were staggered between mid-October 2018 and the end of February 2019,” Kimpton said.

“Lime’s licence was due to end on 14 January, leaving us without any operators in the Auckland market for the remainder of the trial period.

“We have extended Lime’s licence to allow us to continue to gather information and to complete our review. We are also pleased to be working with Lime on trialling some additional initiatives that will add to our review.”

Extending the licence will cost Lime $2653.63.

AT chief executive Shane Ellison said e-scooter uptake had been fantastic but safety was an issue.

“Enabling this trial to continue for a further 10 weeks will give us a holistic picture of the demand for and use of e-scooters in our city . . .

“We are also pleased that Lime has committed to working with us on some safety focused initiatives.”

There have been more than 600 e-scooter ACC injury claims since they launched in Auckland in October and later in Christchurch and the Hutt Valley.

Mayor Phil Goff has welcomed the e-scooters as an alternative means of getting around the city, but has raised concerns with Transport Minister Phil Twyford about changing the rules to allow scooters in cycleways and a speed limit.

He favours 10km/h. Helmets — not legally required — could also be on the agenda.

Lime did not disclose the latest figures for journeys made on its e-scooters.