Up to 300 e-scooters and e-bikes can now operate in Logan under a new agreement between Logan City Council and provider HelloRide.
The 12-month trial began on 28 October – nearly a year after the city’s previous operator withdrew – with hire scooters rolled out across several central Logan precincts.
No e-bikes are available at this stage.
In response to questions regarding community concern about street clutter and safety, with e-scooter related injuries in Logan doubling in one year, the local council said HelloRide had weekly reporting requirements under the agreement.
“HelloRide will provide courtesy helmets and ensure all devices meet Australian safety standards,” a council spokesperson said.
“They will manage customer enquiries and complaints and have other reporting requirements with council.
“Devices need to comply with parking rules and the operator is required to respond urgently to requests to relocate dangerously parked devices.”
HelloRide said it would trial footpath-riding detection and “automatic speed governance” technology (including slow and no-ride areas) in Logan to boost safety.
HelloRide will also provide a 24/7 hotline, escalation manager, and weekly reporting on safety incidents and parking compliance.
The city’s previous shared-scooter provider, Beam Mobility, left Logan and the rest of south-east Queensland last year following a string of allegations in other cities – including Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart and over in New Zealand – that the company was dodging fees.
The company allegedly added hundreds of “unapproved” e-scooters to the cities’ streets every day.
Brisbane council claimed the Singapore-based Beam “systematically exceeded” its cap by around 500 scooters a day for a year – costing council an estimated $330,000 in registration fees.
Beam CEO Alan Jiang at the time apologised for any instances where the company exceeded the agreed scooter allocation.
“We emphatically reject any suggestion that this was a ‘scheme’ to deprive councils of revenue,” he said.
“In response, we are committed to a full and thorough revision of our processes to ensure this does not happen again.”
Beam never said why it left Logan.
The local council spokesperson said the company withdrew from the south-east Queensland market as a “commercial decision”.
“Their agreement with council expired and was not renewed.”
She said the trial would help address some of Logan’s “public transport challenges”, with commercial operators offering alternative and regulated transport options that are “safe and affordable”.
