City of Greater Geraldton Council unanimously approves e-scooter trial to global company Beam

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said he is very excited to see e-scooters come to Geraldton after councillors passed a 15-month trial at Tuesday night’s ordinary council meeting.

Mr Van Styn urged his councillors to consider the trial, highlighting benefits such as increasing mobility, easing traffic congestion, environmentally friendly and the use of the City’s multimillion dollar footpath network.

Geraldton councillors responded unanimously, carrying the motion 11-0.

An extensive evaluation was undertaken on the three e-scooter tenders considered for the trial, with a 300-page document prepared covering factors such as geo-fencing, speed, weight and locking capabilities.

The tender was awarded to global company Beam, which currently operates in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey.

City of Greater Geraldton CEO Ross McKim said Beam had the best insurance policy out of the three tenders.

Councillor Michael Librizzi questioned when and how a review of the trial would be conducted.

Mr McKim said the City would monitor the number of complaints and the performance of Beam in responding to them.

He also stated a community survey would be part of the assessment, as well discussions with traders in the CBD.

While Beam will also provide usage data during the 15 month trial.

E-scooters have proved controversial in Perth with a number of accidents in recent months, just last week a teenager riding an e-scooter was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after he crashed into a car in Perth’s north.

Despite these concerns, Van Styn said e-scooters were much safer than other hire vehicles available.

“E-scooters are a geo controlled device, they have GPS devices in them, they require user registration details, they are tracked in real time, they can be speed limited, and all the like.”

“We’re confident that an experienced global player such as Beam will be able to deliver a safe and innovative solution to e-scooter safety here in Geraldton.”

Mr Van Styn said Geraldton locals may have to wait a few months for the trial to come into effect.

“Beam is a major national supplier with a lot of experience in this field, both in Australia and abroad. I’m sure that it won’t take them too long to at least mobilise a fleet but also obviously they’re going to go through and have to recruit staff to deliver this here in Geraldton.”

He expects the e-scooters to be wildly popular and is excited to see them rolled out later this year.

“We have the great wide open paths for them, we have a great weather for them and just the size of our city really lends itself to these as a way to to move around in a safe manner.”