Slowly but surely, the transport mode shift we’ve been told is required to cut carbon emissions is happening around the country. In some places, it’s also having unintended consequences. In my part of Wellington, Oriental Bay, a new bike lane at the entrance to the bay has made it easier for people to cycle through a busy part of town. But from my apartment, I now watch rush-hour and weekend traffic back up along the bay in a way it never did before.
Wellington City Council tweaked the traffic light phasing on Kent Terrace to try to fix the problem, but in February admitted that congestion monitoring showed “queues are still longer than they were before installation”.
I’m not entering the fractious cars vs cyclists debate. We need to make more room for cyclists on our roads but clearly the incentives to leave the car at home and either cycle to work or catch the bus aren’t yet strong enough.
But the traffic snarl-ups have certainly changed how I get around. If I want to duck into town for a meeting, instead of driving I now hop on one of the e-scooters that can be found littering Oriental Bay, a perfect spot for scootering due to its wide and flat promenade.
For $7-$8, I can usually get to where I need to go, travelling much of the way along the waterfront on a pink Flamingo or purple Beam scooter. I’m increasingly substituting Uber or taxi rides for e-scooter trips, too.
Six years into the e-scooter movement, the battery-powered devices are now a fixture on our streets and footpaths. In December, e-scooter operator Beam expanded to Tauranga, deploying up to 400 e-scooters in the city. Users simply scan a QR code on the scooter with the camera on their smartphone to unlock it, which costs $1. Every minute spent on the scooter thereafter costs at least 45c. Another operator, Lime, claims use of its scooters more than doubled in Auckland between 2022 and 2023. Riders took 1.4 million rides last year in the city, saving 560 tonnes of carbon, according to Lime.
The carbon-cutting credentials of e-scooters are well-established. They produce zero emissions when operating and have contributed to decongestion in some large cities around the world, which is why most councils support shared e-scooter schemes, despite the risk of rider mishaps.
Former National Party leader Simon Bridges offered a reminder of the dangers in February when he fell off an e-scooter in Auckland, badly breaking his wrist and gashing his face. “As a middle-aged man, I will never get back on one,” he told Newshub, while admitting he was riding the e-scooter with “one and a half hands” because he had a pile of paperwork under his arm.
Scooter companies are introducing new designs to address the slightly precarious nature of e-scootering for older and less nimble riders. In Auckland, Lime has introduced a seated e-scooter model that also has a storage bin under the seat. If Bridges ever takes to two small wheels again, he has somewhere to safely stow his papers – or his groceries.
Moves are also strengthening to address my big bugbear with e-scooters – terrible parking etiquette.
Lime and other companies are now using artificial intelligence to analyse end-of-trip photos riders are supposed to take to check if the scooter is appropriately parked.
In Lime’s case, if you block a footpath, street or entrance away with the scooter, you’ll be given a warning. After three warnings, you’ll be fined, and eventually banned if you persist in being a selfish scooter rider. Hurrah for that.
