Rental e-scooters, e-bikes and bikes are out of action while Auckland is in COVID-19 Alert Level 3 and will remain off the streets until advice from the Government changes.
But behind the scenes, Auckland Council and AT have been busy assessing and reviewing applications for the upcoming rental licence period.
Aucklanders will soon have more options for getting active and peddling around the city, with 900 rental e-bikes and 50 bikes licenced alongside 2490 e-scooters for up to 12 months from 4 September 2020.
The successful rental bike operators are:
- Beam - new e-bike operator, 12-month licence
- Lime – will operate using Jump’s fleet of e-bikes, 6-month licence
- Nextbike – in addition to Nextbike’s current docked service near Auckland’s viaduct, they will now operate dockless rentals in the city centre, 6-month licence
The successful rental e-scooter applicants are:
- Beam - existing operator, 12-month licence
- Neuron - existing operator, 12-month licence
- Lime - returns to Auckland using previous operator Jump’s fleet of e-scooters, 6-month licence
Auckland Council’s Director of Regulatory Services, Craig Hobbs, says the period operators are licenced for takes previous performance into consideration.
“Last round Lime wasn’t successful, but they have gone away and put a lot of work into preparing a stronger application that meets our criteria. On that basis we are inviting them back to operate in Auckland for six months during which time their performance will be closely monitored,” he explains.
“As we have seen with previous licence rounds there are no guarantees any applicant will be successful. This is reflected in the robust process of checks and balances we have in place to make sure we’re choosing the strongest applications each time.”
Auckland Transport Chief Executive Shane Ellison adds the real winners from the application process are Aucklanders, who are increasingly getting more access to a range of innovative transport options across the city.
“E-bikes, along with e-scooters, are another great transport option for Aucklanders looking to navigate our more than 7450kms of roads, 7130kms of footpaths and 325kms of cycleways," says Mr Ellison.
"These new e-bike licences are exciting because it means Aucklanders will continue to have more options for active modes of travel alongside walking and cycling," he adds.
High calibre of applications
Mr Hobbs is encouraged by the detail put into this round of applications, with successful operators proposing several new measures to increase safety for riders and pedestrians – like including lockable helmets with e-scooters.
“What we’re seeing is applications are improving each new round of licensing and this is based on a healthy drive to meet the criteria that we’ve set through our assessment documents and Code of Practice,” he says.
Other general observations from successful applications include:
- Wider range of proposals for incentivising good parking practices
- Greater alignment of applications to the Auckland Plan, following the addition of new mobility principles to the assessment criteria
- More proposals to discourage drink-riding – like stickers on scooters, messaging and safety tutorials and tests in apps
- Renewed support for slow-speed and no-park zones
- More detailed information from operators about how they will manage and plan for risks and safety.
This licence round marks almost two years since e-scooters first arrived in Auckland. Alongside increasing detail in applications we’ve seen continued safety improvements to the city’s programme over that time, adds Mr Ellison.
"I encourage everyone to be responsible while riding and share the road or pathway with everyone so we can all get to where we need to go safely,” he says.
Details of the new licence period
The allocation for the licence period starting 4 September 2020 is as follows:
|
E-scooter |
Beam |
Neuron |
Lime |
Total |
|
Tier 1 |
330 |
330 |
330 |
990 |
|
Tier 2 |
300 |
300 |
300 |
900 |
|
Tier 3 |
100 |
300 |
200 |
600 |
|
Total |
730 |
930 |
830 |
2490 |
|
E-bike & Bike |
Beam |
Lime |
Nextbike |
Total |
|
Tier 1 |
100 |
100 |
50 |
250 |
|
Tier 2 |
250 |
300 |
|
550 |
|
Tier 3 |
50 |
100 |
|
150 |
|
Total |
400 |
500 |
50 |
950 |
The council and AT have decided to allocate the same number of operators and a similar number of e-scooters to the current licence period (June - September 2020).
“When making decisions about allocation we consider what will work for Auckland and the city tiers," says Mr Hobbs. "Right now, we are dealing with the realities of COVID-19 as well as adapting to ongoing enhancement work in the city centre, which is impacting micromobility use. Our allocation numbers reflect this context.”
Improvement and Updates to the Code of Practice:
The rental e-scooter Code of Practice (CoP) is the key tool that we have to work with operators on setting good standards for their operations.
The latest version (V5) comes into effect on 4 September with the new licence period and includes the following enhancements:
- More specific detail required by operators for the safety risk management plan
- Updated accident and incident definitions and reporting requirements
- An increase from 85 to 90 per cent for our parking compliance requirement
- A requirement to work with Auckland Council and AT, Waka Kotahi and other agencies in the development and provision of safety and nuisance reduction initiatives
- Specific font size and location for unique ID on each e-scooter
- Incorporation of council and AT parklets within operator apps.
- Increased requirements for managing tipped over devices.
Read more about the assessment criteria for this and previous rounds of rental e-scooter licences.
