E-Scooter trial in Unley

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The City of Unley became the third council in South Australia to trial e-Scooters, which commenced in February 2022. The trial duration was initially for six months and was extended for a further six months until 14 February 2023.

At its 23 January 2023 Council meeting, elected members supported continuing the trial until 14 February 2024.

However, in a close vote at the first meeting of Council in January 2024, Unley's councillors elected not to retain e-scooters on the city’s streets .

This means Unley will not be renewing its e-scooter permit to further extend the current two-year trial as of 14 February 2024, the date on which the agreement was due for review with the two operators.

Key issues raised about e-scooters included the concerns about safety on footpaths and the obstruction that the mobility devices sometimes presented for pedestrians.

Unley’s councillors also acknowledged the uncertainty around legal issues in use of e-scooters, and how the South Australian State Government has managed trials since 2018, where commuters can hire an electric scooter, but where it remains illegal to ride a privately-owned scooter in public.

You can read about the background of the trial's previous evaluation below under  'Trial history and key documents'.

Please refer to Council's Frequently Asked Questions(PDF, 235KB) to know more.  There are also FAQ documents produced by both e-Scooter companies on their websites.

The e-Scooter companies

Neuron Mobility and Beam Mobility were the two operators. There was the option during the trial period that anyone who had specific concern about e-Scooters could report a problem by contacting either company directly by phone email, or their websites.

Neuron (Orange) Customer Support                                    

Phone: (08) 7444 4676                                                                   

Email: adelaidecbdsupport@neuron.sg

Website: rideneuron.com

Beam (Purple) Customer Support

Phone: (08) 7079 0518

Email: teamsupportau@ridebeam.com

Website: ridebeam.com 

Where can I ride e-Scooters in South Australia?

The State Government's Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) has created an excellent resource with road rules and maps for all zones where you can operate an e-Scooter. You will see a drop-down list of the Council areas, and you can click on the maps to make them bigger for easy reference.

Objectives

Council had the following primary objectives in trialling e-Scooters which included:

  • providing a sustainable, alternative, competitive mode of transport to replace short vehicle trips across Unley and to and from the City of Adelaide
  • offering residents and workers the opportunity to travel more easily east-west across Unley to/from key entertainment, business and community precincts
  • providing improved first mile/last mile connections to/from key public transport nodes and destinations
  • providing greater transport choices to special events (such as the Royal Adelaide Show or Fringe Festival)
  • collecting data to better understand movement patterns within and around the City of Unley
  • supporting DIT in evaluation of e-Scooter transport in an inner-rim suburban environment
  • supporting DIT in understanding e-Scooter rider behaviour on low speed, low-trafficked residential roads, with provision of rider pattern data
  • supporting increased opportunities for economic development and business partnerships.

 

Trial history and key documents

The City of Unley's interest in trialling e-Scooters was first explored during 2019, but commenced in 2021. You can read about these discussions by accessing any of the following links to Council Agendas and Minutes. 

  • Notice of Motion from Councillor S. Dewing re investigation into feasibility of introducing E-Scooters in Unley and Eastern Region Alliance Councils - Council Meeting February 2020 (Item 5.1.2 - page 162)
  • Investigation into feasibility of introducing E-Scooters in City of Unley and Eastern Region Alliance Councils - Council Meeting May 2020 (Item 4.2 - page 77)
  • E-Scooter Trial in the City of Unley - Council Meeting January 2021 (Item 4.2 page 29)