“For people with disability or older Canberrans, the popularity and expansion of e-scooters have come to represent an increasing threat,” writes CRAIG WALLACE. 

THE ACT is in the midst of a purple and orange (e-scooter) revolution. Operating since September 2020, the electric scooter-sharing schemes have become increasingly dominant features on the streets and in the suburbs of the capital. 

The recent expansion of Canberra’s electric scooter program will make the city home to one of the world’s largest e-scooter operating areas. 

“With shared e-scooters now available across the entirety of our city, Canberrans can travel north to south and east to west using a range of shared paths and connecting links,” said Transport Minister Chris Steel. 

Micro-mobility devices are promoted as sustainable, alternative and cost-effective forms of travel. For people with disability or older Canberrans, the popularity and expansion of e-scooters have come to represent an increasing threat. 

Public safety and accessibility should be front and centre of any discussion of e-scooters. The reality is that e-scooters are often discarded with little regard, creating trip hazards, blocking paths, kerb ramps, and access pathways. 

Increasingly, we hear reports from Canberrans with disability regarding near misses or collisions with e-scooters on footpaths, bike paths and within shared spaces. Not only is this extremely dangerous, but it is also making people with disability more risk averse when it comes to travelling on shared footpaths. 

Companies operating the schemes in the ACT, assure us that measures have been put in place to ensure everyone’s safety. These include electronic geofencing to prevent inappropriate parking, speed limits, fees for incorrect parking, technologies to avert collisions and educational videos. While this may be the case, the reality we see on the ground is that some users continue to flout the rules and guidelines promoted by the companies, seemingly with little to no consequence. 

Examples include e-scooters being run at speed close to people with mobility devices, being mounted by multiple users and being left across thoroughfares. E-scooters have become a barbecue stopper conversation point in my disability circles and many older folk and people with disabilities report more than one “close call”. 

The ACT’s enthusiasm for shared e-scooter schemes stands in contrast to developments around the world. Scooter-sharing systems have sprung up in more than 100 cities worldwide as their popularity has grown. But this tiny-wheeled transport upheaval could be about to end as quickly as it began. 

All over Europe, cities are working out how to balance the proliferation of people whizzing up and down streets on the battery-charged two wheelers with the implications for public accessibility, safety and traffic. Authorities in the Norwegian capital Oslo banned night-time e-scooter rentals following an outcry from doctors over the numbers of injuries incurred. In Stockholm, councillors voted to nearly halve the number of rentals permitted in the Swedish capital. In a bid to decrease public nuisance, e-scooters can now only be parked in designated zones. 

Despite increased regulation and restrictions on the use of e-scooters in the French capital, public safety remains very much at risk. In 2022, e-scooters were responsible for three deaths and 317 injuries in Paris alone. A study in another French region shows they increase the number of accidents sevenfold. Soon, the citizens of Paris will decide the fate of the shared e-scooter schemes in a rarely seen referendum. A number of cities including Nice, Toulouse, Barcelona, Copenhagen, and Montreal have already banned e-scooters altogether. 

Closer to home, a spate of recent accidents, injuries and deaths have brought e-scooters under increased scrutiny. Authorities in Queensland are working on improved parking plans and have introduced speed limits on some footpaths and increased penalties for high-risk offences. 

Trials of e-scooter share schemes are currently being rolled out across Victorian and NSW cities. It has become increasingly clear that the introduction, let alone the expansion of e-scooter schemes, cannot operate safely without the provision of additional infrastructure and signage, user and driver education, as well as expanded rule and legal enforcement. Whether we are able to learn from the shortcomings of these trials, or the experiences abroad, remains to be seen. 

The importance of safe and accessible outdoor public spaces for people with disability cannot be overstated. For many people with disabilities, and older Canberrans, a walk or wheel around the neighbourhood has been one of the remaining safe ways to promote physical and mental health and enjoy recreation for the last few years. 

That is why Advocacy for Inclusion’s recent submission to the ACT government’s consultation on the expansion of e-scooters urges improved infrastructure and signage, user and driver education, as well as expanded rule and legal enforcement before any expansion of them. 

If these measures are unsuccessful, restrictions on the speed and availability of e-scooters may be needed. E-scooters are another example of the perils of early adoption of transport innovation ahead of regulation around issues like accessibility – many of us were critical of the early adoption of ride sharing in Canberra despite the lack of disability access and other expectations required of taxis and other transport modalities. We were assured it would come but almost a decade later wheelchair-accessible rideshare is nowhere to be seen. 

It’s time that public safety and accessibility take centre stage, lest we all continue to run the risk of being bowled over. 

Craig Wallace is the head of policy at Advocacy for Inclusion