Our opinion on the e-scooter trial in The Age

An opinion piece by Victoria Walks Executive Officer Ben Rossiter has been published in The Age.

Ben writes: 

The Victorian government’s “controlled trials of e-scooters” in three inner Melbourne councils and Ballarat appear anything but controlled. Already allowed to run longer than it was intended, the trial has been beset with problems and negative publicity.

The private, for-profit operators and their supporters have painted a rosy picture of e-scooters as a panacea to many of our transport problems. In the process they have glossed over the many negatives.

Much of their comment has been based on simple usage data that indicate the total number of trips, not the trial’s broad impacts. Without publicly accessible data on all aspects of the trial, we should take their rosy view with a big grain of salt.

What has been happening on the ground, on footpaths, tells a different story. The trial has been awful for some of our most vulnerable community members, and annoying for countless others.

From the onset, the trial has been plagued by illegal behaviour and inconsiderate parking that undermines the tenets of inclusive, open and accessible public space for all. This has particularly affected older walkers, and those with vision impairment or other disabilities.

Despite the occasional police crackdown and campaigns to educate users, illegal riding on footpaths continues. The number of infringements issued over the year by the police is a drop in the ocean.

There has been a relatively small number of fines for a range of other illegal activities, including riding without a helmet, using a mobile phone, carrying passengers, being underage, riding two or more abreast, and failing to obey traffic signals.

Apart from undermining the right of vulnerable community members to walk and access public space, these offences have other flow-on effects. Before the trial started, we were assured that any pedestrian who was hit and injured by an e-scooter rider would be covered by insurance. However, the insurance is nullified if a rider is doing anything illegal, which they usually are when crashes with walkers occur.

There is no incentive or financial imperative for the operators to ensure riders in Victoria are doing the right thing so they don’t negatively impact other members of the community.

Parking and dumping of e-scooters continues to be a major failure of the trial. They are supposed to be left “in an upright position on the kerbside, in a manner that does not obstruct the footpath for pedestrians, at least 1.5 metres from buildings”. Yet they are frequently parked close to buildings, across footpaths, over pram ramps, over pedestrian crossings, at public transport stops and even on the ground surface tiles that guide people who are blind.

The number of trips undertaken by e-scooters is insufficient to have an appreciable impact on traffic congestion. Many of the trips have replaced walking, which is not good from a health, economic and environmental perspective. Then there are trips just for fun, a bit like jet-skis at the beach.

The government recently decided to extend the trial. The lack of a proper, transparent evaluation and public consultation, particularly with those most negatively impacted, is worrying.

Recent research on how to improve rider compliance, particularly parking, found in-app messaging for e-scooter programs and signage did very little to change behaviour. Rather, dedicated parking bays or requiring e-scooters be locked to bike racks improves compliance.

This brings us to one of the trial’s fundamental flaws – it allows and actively encourages parking on the footpath, meaning most trips start or end with illegal footpath riding.

This is why cities overseas, such as Bristol in the UK, have stipulated future hire schemes can only use designated on-road parking spots instead of on footpaths, unless it is clear they won’t obstruct people walking.

If our trial is to continue, there are five things that must happen, at a minimum.

First, completely ban dockless footpath parking in favour of dedicated on-road parking bays, and the same for bike hire schemes.

Second, engage contractors to impound inappropriately parked e-scooters, similar to how vehicles are towed when parked in clearways. The issue of bad parking would all but disappear if the operators had to pay to recover these e-scooters. Some operators already require users to submit a photo of where they parked an e-scooter, adding accountability to their system.

Third, provide a TAC-style no-fault insurance cover for injured pedestrians.

Fourth, resource police to provide consistent policing of footpath riding. Vulnerable people should be able to feel safe while walking.

Finally, collect and evaluate and publish independent data on all aspects of the trial, and give voice to the vulnerable Victorians most affected by the arrival of e-scooters on our streets. Without this, the government is at risk of appearing to let private businesses dictate transport policy without proper scrutiny.

Our governments espouse equity, inclusion, access and social participation as a cornerstone of healthy, fairer communities. Will they remain true to these principles? Will they change the trial and hold operators to account, or let them call the shots?