Neuron e-scooters will be removed from Sunshine Coast streets after a public survey found more than half of respondents had safety concerns.
Sunshine Coast Council begun an 18-month trial of around 400 e-scooters in Mooloolaba and Maroochydore with operator, Neuron Mobility, in June last year.
Councillors yesterday voted to end the trial contract with Neuron, with Mayor Rosanna Natoli and all 10 councillors voting unanimously, despite a Council review finding there were no critical issues identified during the trial.
The e-scooter survey initiated by Council saw close to 1,300 residents respond and found 60% had safety concerns about the devices. The survey also found, however, that less than a quarter of respondents had used the e-scooters. There also appeared to be confusion about the e-scooters being used in the trial, and those owned privately, with a report to Council stating, “Community sentiment does not appear to differentiate between personally owned and hired e-scooters”.
Respondents also raised issues about the availability of the trial e-scooters, which had been restricted for hire after 9pm.
More than 130,000 trips were made in the first year of the Sunshine Coast trial, with an average journey of around two kilometres completed by more than 40,000 riders.
In a statement, a Neuron spokesperson said the company had had high hopes for the e-scooter program on the Sunshine Coast.
“…and given the right regulations, it could still be a great city for rental e-scooters. However, in order to truly maximise the service for riders and make the program sustainable, many of the initial restrictions need to be relaxed by the city.”
“This includes allocating more parking stations and removing the very restrictive curfew to allow riders to fully utilise the service as they do elsewhere in Queensland,” the spokesperson said.
“Since the program began in June 2023 we have had very few reported issues in the Sunshine Coast, and 99.99% of all trips have ended safely and without incident.
“We will continue to work closely with the council and have given our advice on how the program could be successful in the future.”
The company points out that its fleet of e-scooters are equipped with the latest safety technology – an attribute not commonly linked with private e-scooters.
Among the features are geofencing technology that controls where the scooters can be ridden, parked and how fast they can travel in different areas.
