Beam electric scooters to disappear from Whanganui streets next week

Beam scooters will be gone for the winter months in Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley

Beam is stopping its electric scooter trial ahead of the winter months in Whanganui due to low demand from riders.

But the company hopes to bring them back next summer.

Despite riders having taken over 15,000 trips in the last eight months, the company has begun gradually removing e-scooters from the streets and will pause its operations on April 5.

Rider data over the trial period revealed that demand was high in the summer in Whanganui, said Beam operations manager Jackson Jebaselvan.

“However, rider demand falls substantially during the cooler months.”

Riders in Whanganui had tallied up over 37,000 kilometres on the e-scooters over the trial period.

But this was not enough to maintain the fleet throughout the winter in Whanganui.

The Beam trial began in July 2022 with 100 scooters, but the company had plans to expand the fleet to 200 scooters.

Beam said the community response had been positive throughout the trial.

Whanganui District Council, which worked in partnership with Beam to conduct the electric scooter trial, said in a statement it was “disappointed” the service would not be available all year round.

“The council is committed to mitigating the effects of climate change on our district.”

Council manager of community, property and places, Sarah O’Hagan, said the council was encouraging sustainable initiatives such as public transport and pedestrian and cycle-friendly infrastructure.

“Electric scooters work well in this mix and can help people to minimise their dependency on private motor vehicles.”

The most popular times to travel by electric scooter were on Saturdays from 2pm to 5pm and on Friday evenings after 5pm. Beam said that data shows the e-scooters were mainly used for leisure trips in Whanganui, particularly in warm weather.

In November, Beam plans to return to Whanganui for the summer season.

O’Hagan said the council will continue to work with Beam and looks forward to having the scooters back in town.