Purple and green e-scooters will rule city streets in Auckland Council’s latest decision to offer new micro-mobility licenses.
Micro-mobility devices include e-bikes and e-scooters.
Although seven businesses applied for license renewal, Beam and Lime were the only successful applicants this year - meaning all other e-bikes and e-scooters will need to be off Auckland’s streets next month.
Lime scooters came to New Zealand in 2018, with about 600 scooters first launching in Auckland and another 400 in Christchurch.
The company has since increased its reach to Dunedin, Hamilton, Selwyn District, and Tauranga.
Beam - a Singaporean micro-mobility company rolled out its first scooters in the country in January 2020.
There are currently three micro-mobility operators in Auckland’s CBD, and they have a current allocation of 330 e-scooters each.
However, from November 4, that allocation is expected to rise to 450 for Beam and Lime only.
“This will allow us to have a closer, more productive relationship with operators and will make for easier improvements to parking and compliance,” said an Auckland Council spokesperson.
Alcohol licensing and Environmental Health Veronica Lee Thompson said she was impressed with the standard of applications this year.
“We saw a really exciting range of initiatives offered across the applications, with new innovations in parking technology and pedestrian rider safety,”
Thompson said there was a focus on influencing user behaviour, reducing nuisance and improving safety outcomes.
