The purple e-scooters dumped in Napier's Georges Drive drain. Photo / Supplied
The purple e-scooters dumped in Napier's Georges Drive drain. Photo / Supplied
The company that brought hire e-scooters to Napier for a trial period says it’s happy with how it’s gone, and it now wants to expand further into Hawke’s Bay.
The 150 purple Beam scooters have been a hot topic in the city since their introduction to in December.
The dumpingof them in streets and creeks continues to cause a backlash, but Napier City Council says it too is “very happy” with the Australian company’s trial.
A council spokesman said the numbers of complaints had “tailed off” since the early days.
But the scooters don’t impress the mother of the man who last week fell near an intersection he was about to cross. The woman, who did not want to be named, said her son was “fortunately not injured.
“Ever since these hire scooters appeared in Napier, and I’ve seen them abandoned in the middle of footpaths and around the suburbs. I have worried about my son who is blind, falling over one as he goes on his daily walk round the streets he is familiar with,” she said. “They are dangerous, not just for him but for other folk with wheelchairs, walkers, mobility scooters and prams.”
The trial is soon to be reviewed and data and details of concerns and complaints is not yet available.
But Napier City Council’s spokesperson says complaints, mainly about where scooters had been left, were referred to service provider Beam.
Complainants were requested to contact the company directly if there was an “operational issue with the scooters, such as them being left in a dangerous or inconsiderate position”.
The council says Beam has been “very active” in rectifying any complaints and its staff had been very professional in their dealings with council.
Beam head of sustainability Frederick Conquer says the company has a dedicated team managing and charging the scooters in Napier, and it has been pleased with the “uptake” and it wants to expand elsewhere in Hawke’s Bay.
A member of the public checks out a Beam scooter in Napier.
He says large events, such as the rugby league match which attracted 16,000 people to McLean Park – several riding to the park on the scooters and some riding to bars or home afterwards - are “a great opportunity for people to experience scooters and be able to get around the city without needing to use a car”.
Scooters dumped in a Georges Drive stream last week are thought to have been collateral damage, and were still there the Tuesday morning following the NRL clash when photographed by a Hawke’s Bay Today reader.
Conquer says data shows six of every 10 Beam trips involves a purchase at a store, highlighting the place of micro-mobility in the business community and as a transport solution that can work for cities of all sizes and demographics.
The company says it has numerous safety, monitoring and other systems in place, and with many transport challenges post Cyclone Gabrielle “shared e-scooters have been an accessible and resilient way to get around town”.
Beam also donated a portion of ride costs after Cyclone Gabrielle to the disaster fund, he says.
