ACT e-scooter use powers ahead as fuel prices surge (2024)

The bright orange or purple electric scooters dotted throughout the city make up part of the scenery for many commuters across the ACT. However, recent research has shown more people are leaving the car at home, pocketing their MyWay card and scooting to work.

The two shared scooter providers in Canberra, Neuron Mobility and Beam Mobility, have both seen an increase in demand as fuel prices surge.

Over the past two weeks Neuron has seen a 15.4 per cent increase in e-scooter trips across Australia. This follows anecdotal reports some riders are turning to e-scooters to replace comparatively expensive car journeys.

This comes as fuel prices surpass $2.20 in many parts of Canberra as a result of pressures from the Russian-Ukraine war.

The data has shown 45 per cent of Canberrans use Neuron e-scooter trips to replace a car journey.

According to data from Beam, fuel prices have risen by around 20 per cent since February 6 across the ACT with scooter use up by 42 per cent over that time.

A total of 67 per cent of Beam riders surveyed in Canberra own a car, with 45 per cent using shared scooters to commute to work, 63 per cent for leisure purposes and 33 per cent to travel to and from study.

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Australian and New Zealand head of Neuron Richard Hannah said e-scooters were a great alternative to cars, helped reduce congestion and emissions, and provided a link to public transport.

"With increasing petrol prices, and the reduced availability of fuel, people are certainly considering how they travel," he said.

"Already we are seeing our e-scooter trips continuing to increase in Canberra and we expect this number to continue if petrol prices continue to rise.

"Over the last two weeks we've seen an uplift in demand and we are carefully watching how, and where, our e-scooters are being used and responding accordingly."

The Canberra Times spoke to scooter users at ANU and in the city to get the run-down on this new mode of transport.

ANU student Chloe James said convenience as well as the "fun factor" was a driver when deciding to use a scooter.

"They're really convenient parking-wise because it's really hard to get a park in Canberra, and you can sort of just dump the scooter wherever you want," she said.

"[E-scooters] are cheap and quick in traffic."

Friends Eve O'Brien, Abby Thompson and Zara Arnold all agreed scooters were a cheap, fast and convenient option compared to other forms of public transport.

"It's cheaper than driving at the moment and it's fast," Ms Thompson said.

While The Canberra Times questioned multiple people about their scooter use, many said they only used them to ride home from the pub after a late night.

Beam scooter use currently costs $1 to unlock and then 45 cents for every minute you ride. Neuron scooters cost $1 to unlock and 38 cents per minute. Three-day, weekly and monthly passes are also available for regular users.

The micro-mobility scooters were first introduced to areas of Canberra in August 2020, with services expected to expand to Woden and Gungahlin, and connect areas between Belconnen and central Canberra, by the end of 2022.

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