Five years and two companies later, Queenstown finally gets e-scooters

Five years after the idea was first mooted, electric scooters have arrived in Queenstown.

Beam is bringing up to 300 e-scooters into central Queenstown on a 24-month trial following agreement with the Queenstown Lakes District Council.

Beam spokesman Frederick Conquer said the first few bookings had started coming in on Wednesday following a small launch in the town.

“We’ve spent 12 months on this project, so we’re really pleased to be up and running,” he said.

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Lime Scooters ditched their council-approved plans for a six-month trial due to the impacts of Covid-19. The company applied in 2018.

Conquer said the company was operating in many cities in New Zealand and Australia, but this would be its first South Island base after the Christchurch City Council limited the number of allowable commercial e-scooters, forcing Beam to leave.

The company would operate a different model in Queenstown compared to most other cities where the scooters were parked on public land.

In Queenstown, they would park at designated spots on private land, in agreement with 15 local businesses.

The model had been successfully used in cities in Queensland and could expand, he said.

“Ultimately we like the public space model, but we want to work with the community, council and businesses to make sure we’re providing the best service we can.”

It was not about selling rides to tourists, he said.

The company wanted to provide genuine transport options to the community to move into and around town.

Users would be able to use tracks such as the Frankton Track but would be reviewing that decision based on feedback and how the scooters were affected by the surface.

“The thing about our system is we can adjust where the scooters are allowed to ride if we are seeing any issues.”

He urged members of the public to provide feedback via the company’s website.

Beam general manager for Australia and New Zealand Tom Cooper said data from operations in Auckland and Wellington showed a shift from cars to e-scooters for trips under 5km.

In Queenstown the e-scooters would be available for hire between 6am and 10pm, seven days a week and cost $1 to unlock and $0.65 cents per minute, with subscription passes available for regular riders.