Josh Morell (left) and Rob Van Duren check out the Hamilton Lime e-scooters left in Te Awamutu. Photo / Bethany Rolston
E-scooters have been spotted in Te Awamutu just days after Lime's launch in Hamilton.
Two were left parked outside ZB Homes on Bond Rd during the weekend and stayed in the town until Monday.
ZB Homes staff told the Te Awamutu Courier the scooters had been left outside the company on Saturday, with staff having nothing to do with their arrival.
Te Awamutu man Josh Morell took one for a spin, picking it up and dropping it off at the same spot.
He later found out he was fined $60 for parking the scooter in a prohibited area, outside of Hamilton, despite being able to unlock and use the scooter.
Josh later contacted Lime and was refunded.
Lime NZ public affairs manager Lauren Mentjox said the service had not launched in Te Awamutu.
It had no plans to do so unless there was significant demand.
She said she was unsure how the two e-scooters made it from Hamilton to Te Awamutu.
"It's possible they were ridden, but it's more likely they were taken in a car, which is not something we encourage."
She said customers who took the scooters outside the service zone would be fined.
In other words, don't unlock and use one unless you can return it to Hamilton's service zone.
The two e-scooters that appeared in Te Awamutu were among the 200 to hit Hamilton's streets last Friday, with another 400 expected to arrive this week.
The rollout of e-scooters in Hamilton is part of a six-month trial approved by the city council, with more applications from operators expected over the coming weeks.
The e-scooters can be ridden throughout the city but will be focused on the central city, Hamilton East, Hillcrest and Hamilton Lake areas.
They can be ridden on footpaths and roads and will feature geofencing which automatically reduces speeds in certain areas to make it safer for users and pedestrians.
These areas include the central city entertainment and dining precinct, Garden Place and Centre Place and the speeds will be limited to 15km/h.
There will also be low speed zones along the Waikato River.
There will be a dedicated e-scooter parking zone at Hamilton Gardens.
However, the devices will not be able to be ridden within the grounds of the Gardens, over the boardwalk section around Lake Rotoroa (Hamilton Lake Domain) or at Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park.
The e-scooters are dockless, which means they can be left anywhere safe within the city.
A team of local "juicers" will be recruited by Lime to retrieve, charge and deploy the e-scooters each day.
Users will be able to download the Lime Scooter app on their phone to find and unlock scooters for use. There is a charge for using them which is based on distance.
The arrival of Lime e-scooters to the Waikato comes weeks after a call from the Cambridge Community Board for Waipā District Council to consider a strategy to manage e-scooters and e-skateboard traffic in and around urban areas in the district.
The council confirmed the resolution would be put into the next available appropriate committee agenda.
‘This is about a bigger sort of commitment that we have to te reo Māori.’