The NSW Government is looking at e-scooters as a way to get travellers away from using their cars. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Governments have been looking at ways to get people to travel in a more environmentally friendly way for years.
Councils have pushed active travel plans, state and federal governments have rolled out initiatives to get people to walk to work and school, and even public transport has become a focus once again.
Despite these actions, those in regional areas seem to balk at the idea of alternatives to cars.
Whether that is due to the distances they have to travel, the lack of payment options for public transport or even the active infrastructure, cars are still overwhelmingly the form of transport of choice in regional areas.
The NSW Government is now proposing to legalise e-scooters.
Minister for Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison believes the implementation of e-scooters in the regions could significantly reduce the amount of car travel.
“E-bikes and e-scooters can bring many benefits to help people move around in a healthy and affordable way, reduce congestion, demand for parking, and boost our economy and environmental outcomes,” she said in a statement.
The latest data in NSW shows:
- There are around 1.35 million e-micromobility devices in NSW homes.
- 47 per cent of people use them to connect to public transport.
- 34 per cent of trips replace car trips in Greater Sydney, 45 per cent in Regional NSW.
- The highest usage is among those aged 18-29, followed by 11-17, followed by 30-49, including working parents.
NSW is the only state in Australia where it is illegal for riders to use e-scooters in public areas.
In the coming months, the NSW Government will progress the proposed regulation of e-scooters and associated road rule changes, allowing the vehicles to be used on roads and footpaths.
A look at the ACT, however, suggests that the introduction of this mode of transport is not always smooth sailing.
In September 2024, Beam Mobility, a brand of public e-scooters that were available for people to use on a 20c per minute offering, were ordered to remove all of their scooters from the ACT after they were found to have manipulated data about their scooters and the number of active scooters in the region.
Transport Canberra and City Services Deputy Director-General Ben McHugh said at the time that, “We believe Beam has failed to meet the expectations of the Canberra community under their permit to operate and therefore we will not be renewing their permit to operate,” he said.
“Although that investigation is ongoing, what we’ve found to date is that some of those investigations have been validated, particularly as it relates to the manipulation of data.”
Beam was forced to remove all 950 of its scooters from the city.
This wasn’t reserved just for Canberra either. Other cities, including Brisbane, Townsville and Auckland, all tore up their scooter contracts due to similar disputes.
The number of scooters hitting the road isn’t the only issue concerning regional towns, either.
Kidson Cycles’ Josef Winkler believes that if e-scooters were to be implemented in town, they would need to be monitored closely.
“Wagga already has an issue of people modifying scooters that they’re not even allowed to have,” he said.
“While legalising them would see more people outdoors, which is what we want to see … but it also welcomes more people pushing the limits of what’s legal and what’s not.”
Mr Winkler suggested that e-bikes might be a more reasonable option, due to them already being legal in the state and making up 85 per cent of sales at most bike shops in town.
“A large majority of sales in our shop are e-bikes,” he said.
“I think that makes more sense as an alternative to people using cars, but again, it will need to be watched closely. It will be very difficult to police effectively in a place that is already struggling with illegal use of dirt bikes, motorbikes and e-scooters.”
