Inner city councils Subiaco, South Perth and Victoria Park are charging ahead with their own investigations into allowing electric scooter rentals to infiltrate their suburbs.
They follow the City of Stirling, whose e-scooter hire trial has been a hit along its popular beachfront and through coastal suburbs for more than a year.
But aside from the City of Rockingham, which partnered with micromobility company Beam in March last year to bring 200 e-scooters to Rockingham’s picturesque beachfront, there appears to be limited outer metro area interest.
Most councils surveyed by PerthNow admit they do not have plans to trial e-scooters in the near future.
The exceptions include Perth, which is finalising logistics before commencing a two-year CBD trial. The City of Vincent is working through the process of selecting an operator to put the scooters on the trendy streets of Leederville and North Perth.
That council also confirmed in November last year it was looking at a synchronised trial involving Perth, Subiaco, South Perth and Victoria Park, which could allow the hire vehicles to be ridden across council boundary lines.
More recently, Subiaco confirmed to PerthNow it was still exploring that possibility.
“(We) will continue working with other inner city councils to investigate the feasibility of e-scooters in its suburbs,” mayor David McMullen.
“Implementation of an e-scooter trial would first require a Council decision..”
South Perth and Victoria Park also confirmed the viability of a share scheme was a consideration.
“The city’s Integrated Transport Strategy supports e-rideables and micro mobility and, as such, we are committed to investigating ways of integrating these new modes of transport into our community over time,” South Perth chief executive Mike Bradford said.
But City of Melville mayor George Gear said they were in no hurry to join in this year as city officials preferred to take a wait-and-see approach while mulling benefits and risks of allowing a hire system.
“At this stage, we’re continuing to monitor other local governments’ e-scooter trials to better understand the benefits, as well as any potential issues, before undertaking a possible City of Melville trial,” he said.
The Town of Bassendean said it was not planning to implement an e-scooter trial due to “lack of demand”.
Other riverfront councils including the Shire of Peppermint Grove, cities of Canning, Nedlands, Belmont, Bayswater, and towns of East Fremantle, Mosman Park and Claremont do not have any plans to trial e-scooters in the near future. Nor does the City of Cockburn.
The Town of Cottesloe is focused on an e-bike trial instead of e-scooters while City of Wanneroo and the Town of Cambridge did not provide PerthNow with comment on the matter.
The City of Joondalup has looked at bringing in a commercial operator but mayor Albert Jacob said a decision had not been reached as the city awaits the results of Stirling’s trial, considers feedback on recent changes to State legislation on the use of e-scooters, and would want community consultation before going any further.
E-scooters can be a swift transport alternative as well as fun recreation but their growing popularity has also driven a rise of conflicts, issues and accidents on roads and paths.
St John WA reported in May last year it had attended about 250 e-scooter accidents in a little over a year, or about 15 per month.
Most were considered a Priority 1 by the ambulance service, meaning life-threatening, after collisions with vehicles, bicycles or pedestrians, or factors such as alcohol or excess speed.
But a spokesperson for Neuron Mobility – which owns the 250 bright orange e-scooters available for hire in Stirling – said across all the Australian cities it operates in, there were less than two incidents per 100,000km where e-scooters riders end up in hospital, and Stirling was “well below that benchmark”.
“Overwhelmingly our riders follow the rules and over 99.99 per cent of all trips end safely and without incident,” the spokesperson said.
Avid e-scooter user Ella McCaughan said they were “super convenient” and easy to find, claiming the ride from Scarborough Foreshore to North Beach was “absolutely beautiful” and a must-do for locals and visitors.
Data gathered during Stirling’s e-scooter trial found the vehicles had universal appeal, with riders spread almost evenly across demographics; 47 per cent of riders were aged 18 to 34 years, 39 per cent aged 35 to 54 and the remaining 14 per cent 55 and above.
“On average across Australia each e-scooter is contributing $70,000 to local economies per year, so in the City of Stirling that equates to $17.5 million dollars per year based on 250 e-scooters,” a Neuron Mobility spokesperson said.
Unsurprisingly, they said Scarborough Beach was a popular destination with about 18 per cent of trips starting or ending at the location.
“Nineteen per cent of trips wouldn’t have happened at all if the e-scooters weren’t available, meaning local businesses would have missed out on valuable sales,” the spokesperson said.
“The Scarborough to Trigg coastline is our most popular route, which is providing great benefits to the businesses located along West Coast Drive.”
The boss of Island Market Trigg and Canteen Trigg is adamant his coastal dining destinations have benefited during the City of Stirling’s trial.
“As a coastal business, it’s been positive for us as that’s the best place to use them,” Kailis Hospitality Group managing director George Kailis said.
“They sit outside our venues and we have had no issues.”
The Little Bay Cafe general manager Brendan Osborne said e-scooters provided a convenient way for locals and visitors to explore the area.
“It makes for happy shop owners and local businesses,” he said.
Neuron Mobility’s statistics also show 15 per cent of riders used their e-scooters to connect to public transport, starting or ending their trip at places such as Stirling train station.
“Many riders are also using e-scooters to move to and from suburban areas with Doubleview and Innaloo proving to be popular,” a Neuron Mobility spokesperson said.
Stirling’s e-scooter service trial officially concluded this month and was followed by public consultation on if and how it should continue.
The consultation period garnered 1200 community responses, with more than 80 per cent throwing their support behind the initiative.
“Seventy-seven per cent said they would support not only the continued the use of the e-scooters but also an expansion of the locations the e-scooters are available from within the city,” Stirling mayor Mark Irwin said.
“Close to 200,000 trips have been registered during the 12-month trial of e-scooters, which for a relatively new technology in the Perth metropolitan region is an incredibly positive result.
“Respondents also made clear in our survey that 40 per cent used an e-scooter for a trip they would have otherwise used a car for, which is pleasing to see from an emissions reduction perspective.”
Data from the Stirling trial and community feedback will now be analysed with a report sent to councillors in March.
In the meantime, the hire scooters will continue to be available.
“Until council has made a decision about the future of e-scooters in the city, the service provided by Neuron Mobility will continue to provide maximum benefits for the community while also taking steps to address areas of concern,” Mr Irwin said.
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