The arrival of e-scooters in significant numbers in NZ creates issues for how we get around. What are the issues?
by Patrick Morgan
Although there are some risks, overall there are net benefits.
- more demand for bike lanes and traffic calming
- helps transition to low-carbon, less car-dependent transport
- but risks need to be managed
- footpaths are primarily for people on foot.
Policy
E-scooters are here already. It's a bad look to seek to restrict something that's already proving popular. This is about managing benefits and risks.
Benefits
Overseas data indicate that e scooters get some people out of cars. That's a huge net benefit. Lime claims 20-30 percent of their riders replaced a car trip with a scooter trip.
Managing risk
Yes, there are risks but we need to keep these in perspective compared to other everyday activities. In 2017 ACC reported that avocado-related claims totalled $70,000. (https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/92546020/holy-guacamole-avocado-injuries-cost-acc-70000-last-year)
Manage the risks through codes of conduct, enforcement, performance bonds, and MOUs with commercial providers. E=scooter providers need to show they are safe.
By all means assess the risks but I wish we'd do the same with other transport that kills more than 300 people a year.
The case for better bike lanes
E scooters make the case for improving footpaths, building more bike lanes, and traffic calming even stronger.
Further reading
Lime E-Scooters – Avoiding a collision course with public health?
Currently introduced in four New Zealand cities, Lime electric scooters (e-scooters) have elicited varied responses. Proponents argue they will help reduce traffic density, thus bringing health and environmental benefits, while critics suggest they risk unacceptable overall harm to pedestrians, users themselves, and to taxpayers, who fund treatments for injuries. In this blog, we consider the public health implications of Lime e-scooters, review how policy makers could maximise the potentially desirable outcomes offered by e-scooters while minimising the harms they pose, and consider wider questions regarding allocation of urban space.
In the Scooter Wars of 2018, it's not really about the scooters
SAN FRANCISCO – There’s one thing the aggrieved voices in this city’s Great Scooter War of 2018 can agree on: It’s not really about the scooters.
Feb 2019: https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/110407590/lime-vs-...