Palmerston North City Council says most residents have taken a safe and sensible approach to the hiring of e-scooters.
Palmerston North City Council says most residents have taken a safe and sensible approach to the hiring of e-scooters.
Palmerston North’s public e-scooters are now able to operate 24 hours a day.
Since the electric scooters began operation in November 2021 they’ve been able to operate only between 5am and 11pm.
Palmerston North City Council has renewed the permits for the city’s three e-scooter operators - Beam, Flamingo andLime - for a further three years. Under the renewed permits they are now allowed to operate 24/7.
Acting chief customer officer Kerry-Lee Probert said the performance of the three operators over the past 18 months had been “very good”, with relatively few issues given the high amount of use.
Permitting 24-hour operation reflects the responsible approach taken by most users.
“Having e-scooters available 24 hours a day will make them more usable for shift workers who may rely on them to get to and from work. To minimise the risk of intoxicated riding, you’ll still need to complete a cognitive test between 9pm and 5am on Fridays and Saturdays to unlock the e-scooter.”
Palmerston North has the third-largest fleet of e-scooters in New Zealand.
“In just 19 months we’ve hit our 500,000th ride and ridden over a million kilometres on hired e-scooters,” she said.
“The number of accidents and injuries has been comparatively low, showing that most of our residents have taken a safe and sensible approach to this new way of getting around our city.”
E-scooters can be ridden on the footpath and on the road, but not in cycle lanes. There is no legal requirement to wear a helmet.
Operators are responsible for responding to complaints about parking.
A report for last month’s Sustainability Committee meeting concluded e-scooters are being operated well. Usage of e-scooters is strong and they are meeting a transport need within the community.
The report contains data from November 2021, when e-scooters were first permitted in Palmerston North, until March 2023. While some safety concerns remain, particularly around the sharp increase in the number of e-scooter-related injury claims lodged with ACC (177), this remains a “very small fraction” of the number of trips.
During the period covered by the report, the council received 177 requests for service related to e-scooters, the vast majority of which were in the first month of operation; 118 were about poor parking.
The report says there have been three recorded incidents of e-scooters being used to vandalise public places. One involved e-scooter riders damaging the steps outside Central Library. Additionally, officers are aware of e-scooters being used to make skid marks in public toilets and the Esplanade paddling pool.
Police data states there were eight collisions involving a vehicle and an e-scooter and one between an e-scooter and a pedestrian during the reporting period.
Horse and hitching post, car or e-scooter - take your pick as they are now all available 24/7 in Palmerston North. Photo / Judith Lacy
At the committee meeting, senior policy analyst Peter Ridge said most cities have one or two operators. It is “quite remarkable” three have been able to survive in Palmerston North.
Councillor Leonie Hapeta, who co-owns Aberdeen restaurant, said she can get to work and can see up to four e-scooters dumped outside.
People trip over them all the time. There had been a lot of near misses outside the restaurant and she knew customers at other businesses had nearly been knocked over by an e-scooter.
Councillor Vaughan Dennison said the benefit of e-scooters to the city had been proven by the number of trips taken.
Councillor Billy Meehan questioned how many people report near misses.
Councillor Orphee Mickalad, a regular e-scooter user, said they are good for student city Palmy, eco-friendly and affordable. Irresponsible users should not spoil it for responsible riders.
E-scooters are also referred to as a micromobility service. Councillor Brent Barrett said it was an odd name when the service is having a significant impact on the city in terms of kilometres ridden and households thinking they do not need to own so many cars.
The established operators are delivering a great service, he said.
