RIP e-scooters, that was real. We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems the era of rented e-scooters is over. Melbourne City Council has suddenly voted to ban them from CBD streets, and by the end of this year they will be completely gone.
The ban came out of the blue – apparently e-scooter rental companies were working with the City of Melbourne on new ways to make the service safer. New measures are intended to make Melbourne’s e-scooter system the most heavily regulated in the world. Private e-scooters were only permanently legalized in Victoria last month.
But Melbourne’s new mayor Nicholas Reece backed down and wanted to ban them. At a council meeting on August 13, he tabled a motion to cancel the existing contracts with e-scooter rental companies such as Neuron and Lime. The motion was passed by a majority vote.
There are several reasons for the ban, including safety concerns for pedestrians and drivers. CBD residents have complained en masse about the lawlessness of e-scooter riders endangering others by riding on the pavement in pedestrian-heavy areas. Additionally, thousands of riders have been caught by police for not wearing helmets and driving while drunk.
Rental e-scooters were introduced in our city in 2022 as part of a two-year trial, and current contracts were due to expire in six months – but the problems caused by e-scooters were so severe that the ban couldn’t wait. Now companies have just weeks to remove hundreds of e-scooters from the CBD.
But it’s not all bad news for enthusiastic e-scooter users. At this stage, Melbourne residents can still use them in the City of Yarra and City of Port Phillip municipalities, which include suburbs to the north and south.
It seems that Melbourne residents just can’t get it together when it comes to renting two-wheelers – remember the oBike drama from back in the day? That’s why we can’t afford nice things.
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