City of Rockingham extends e-scooter trial

Friday, 16 June 2023 11:17

By Monique Welhan

Purple e-scooters will be zooming around Rockingham for another six months after the City extended the trial to the end of the year.

Over 70,000 shared e-scooter trips have taken place across the city since March 2022, with over 22,000 unique riders and over 250,000 kilometres travelled.

The most popular e-scooter journeys were taken along the Rockingham foreshore coastline, from Palm Beach to the Wanliss Street Carpark while the most popular parking spot is in the centre of the foreshore itself, Churchill Park, with e-scooter usage highest on the weekends from 10am to 4pm.

“We have had a great experience operating in Rockingham and are really pleased that the City of Rockingham has extended our permit, allowing us to continue providing a safe, affordable and environmentally sustainable way for locals and visitors to the city to get around," Beam’s WA Operations Manager Stuart O’Callaghan said.

“Over 30 Beam parking spots are now available for community use, allowing Rockingham riders more flexibility in e-scooter travel, and we look forward to expanding this number further throughout the rest of the year.

“We saw a 42 per cent increase in trips with the increase in number of parking spots, which shows the huge potential for shared micromobility to provide transport connections to residents and visitors in Rockingham and replace trips that would otherwise be taken in a car.”

Beam has a number of safety practices in place for riders including a pre-trip safety briefing and a safety quiz through their app.

There is also 'Half Beam' mode for new riders which reduces the acceleration.

A three-strikes policy is also in place with riders facing a suspension for bad riding and parking offences.

Those caught riding dangerously or breaking the law face permanent bans.