NSW to allow electric scooters, with limits, to help displace car trips

John Graham, the New South Wales ‘minister for transport has announced that NSW will be taking steps to legalise e-scooters in the state.

The final rules are to be determined, but the suggestion is that scooters be limited to roads where the speed limit is less than 50km/h and that the scooters must obey a 20km/h speed limit. On shared use paths the suggestion is that a 10-20km/h limit applies. Riders must be 16 or over.

These rules closely follow the trial rules currently in place in Victoria, but are more restrictive than those in place in Queensland and the rest of the country. Rules vary by state and it was clearly too much to ask for the states and territories to harmonise regulations.

Also in the NSW announcement was some summary data about the mode shift scooters are enabling, 47% of trips are connecting to public transport, but more importantly 35% of scooters trips are displacing car trips in cities at 45% are displacing cars trips in Regional areas.

This is high by global standards and obviously fantastic news for anyone who cares about the decarbonisation of mobility.

Scooters have attracted a degree of negative press; there is an upswing of scooter ascenders causing injury and even death both riders and pedestrians; attributable to irresponsible, often intoxicated riding which legalizing and regulating will help address.

We’ve also seen a spate of fires caused by lithium batteries impersonal mobility devices. Today’s announcement is also at pains to point out the lead New South Wales is taking on applying rigorous product safety standards to these devices, enabling consumers to make better choices and irresponsible suppliers to be prosecuted.

Our collective goal of a zero emissions Australia cannot be achieved if we have a one for one substitution of internal combustion vehicles for EVs.

Changing behaviour so more trips are taken using active transport, micro mobility and public transport is vital to reducing the climate impact of mobility, reducing congestion and improving air quality and public health.

In our vast sprawling cities e-scooters, along with bicycles and walking have a massive role to play, not just as personal transportation but in logistics, powering both food delivery and ecommerce.

My good fortune this week is to have a Segway e-scooter on loan for review. Whilst I’m no stranger to active transport, I am looking forward to sharing how this trial is giving me some insights into the role e-scooters have to play in decarbonizing our mobility ecosystem