And that’s understandable — embracing a new vehicle on our streets is something many of us have never had to do.
Most New Zealanders were born into the world of the car, with horses and carts relegated to the sidelines decades ago. It is important the community understands the advanced technology behind shared e-scooters that differs from the personal e-scooters they may have seen.
Beam has a strong emphasis on safety, investment in technology to monitor operations and nipping reckless behaviour in the bud, and investment in education for not only riders, but the broader community.
For example, we are able to automatically control the speed of e-scooters within certain areas, block rider access to other areas such as high foot traffic or pedestrian-only streets, and detect and correct rider behaviour as it happens.
Each shared e-scooter is also capped at a maximum speed according to legislation. Every rider is educated on and acknowledges the riding rules before being allowed to start their ride.
Our state-of-the-art GPS navigation system controlling each e-scooter is constantly updated with new “no ride” and “slow” zones, automatically adjusting the speed of each vehicle. It’s called geofencing, and it is an important tool in keeping e-scooters out of certain locations.
We also make our purple Beam fleet as safe as possible and are constantly adding new features to improve the experience. For example, our e-scooters in Napier will have mobile phone holders, a warning bell, a double kick-stand for anti-tipping, triple brakes, and a Bluetooth-locked helmet.
To maintain city amenity, our virtual parking docks utilise technology and GPS to direct riders to appropriate parking spots, with virtual parking locations created to incentivise parking in recommended locations.
When riders finish their ride, we ask them to take a photo so we know it is parked safely. If a rider does the wrong thing, we already know a fair bit about them.
Every e-scooter has its own QR code, which means every e-scooter can be tracked and monitored 24/7, with us knowing who the registered rider is at any moment. This assists us and the police with tracking down riders not doing the right thing.
It also assists our local marshals who we employ to know where each e-scooter is at all times so they can clean it, swap new batteries, relocate it to an optimum parking location to ensure it can be used again, pick up e-scooters that have fallen over, and assist riders with their queries.
Our marshal team are local Napier residents who understand their city best, and are available 24/7, ensuring the e-scooter operations run smoothly. They are supported by Beam Safety Ambassadors, who will roam the streets of Napier, assisting riders and the community and answering questions on the scooter trial.
We hire locally wherever we go, and our Napier Beam team cares about the city as much as you do. Rest assured, safety is our priority, with our flagship rider education and enforcement programme, the Beam Safe Academy, to be introduced to the city.
Our three-strikes policy ensures those doing the wrong thing are barred from our platform. While incidents of vandalism or bad behaviour are rare, in the event these occur, we investigate every single report made through our 24/7 customer service channels to ensure the actions of some don’t ruin a good experience for others.
We’re excited about the introduction of shared micromobility in Napier, and the potential for it to support a modal shift to sustainable transport. We’re committed to bringing the latest in micromobility technology to the city, and are looking forward to working collaboratively with the city council and with the local community to make this trial a success.
We can’t wait to get started.
Tom Cooper is general manager Australia-NZ for Beam
