Transportation Deployment Casebook/2025/E-scooters in Australia

Qualitative

Technology

An electric scooter or ’e-scooter’ is a two wheeled device steered by handlebars and propelled by an electric motor. An e-scooter is defined in the NSW Road Rules 2014 as a vehicle, borrowed or hired through a share scheme . An e-scooter is typically powered by a lithium-ion battery. The speed in which the electric motor can propel the device is typically capped to a certain speed dependent on the jurisdiction. E-scooters in Australia are ‘free-floating’ or ‘dockless’ where you may start or end a trip in any location within the permissible zone. The alternative is a docked scheme, in which a docking station is set up at strategic locations where you must return the device at the end of your trip. E-scooters can be unlocked using a mobile application and left locked within an allowed perimeter. The schemes are typically provided by a third party provider contracted to the government and therefore there are monetary costs involved to the user when unlocking and riding an e-scooter.

E-scooters fall under the term of micromobility devices as outlined in Transport for NSW (TfNSW) Future Transport Strategy. A key advantage and goal of micromobility devices is to replace short journeys of private vehicles in neighbourhoods and centres to reduce congestion . E-scooters can also help people connect to, and move between public transport modes such as buses, trains, ferries and light rail . It was found that 3.6 million adults used an e-scooter in 2022 and those aged 18-34 have the highest proportion of people who used an e-scooter (35%) .

Context

Australia is playing its part in the global challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and is party to international treaties such as The Paris Agreement, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol To The United Nations Framework Convention On Climate Change. Transport is the second largest source of carbon emissions in Australia after electricity production .

The dominance of the private car in urban centres across Australia has been recognised as an issue across multiple Australian government jurisdictions. The threat of congestion, carbon emissions, safety issues and other negative externalities involved with excessive private car usage has been well documented in government reports. Walking and cycling are sustainable transport modes that act as an alternative to short journeys made by private vehicles. Investment in supporting infrastructure has helped make these modes a more attractive option over time but there are limitations as to the accessibility to these modes. For example, an acceptable distance for users to walk to a varied type of local living needs is between 400 meters to 800 meters . In many cases, this walkable distance does not cover the journey required for a person to access their destination. Cycling has been the next sustainable mode of transport to cover the distances that fall outside of the walkable distance. Although, barriers to cycling can include sharing the road with motor vehicles, lack of provision and connectivity to bicycle paths, lack of storage when riding for transport and perceived lack of safety .

The introduction of e-scooters brought another sustainable mode of transport option as a viable alternative to private car usage for short journeys. E-scooters enable manoeuvring through dense urban environments and provide a solution to the ‘last mile’ problem as they are suitable to intermodal trips .

Invention

The concept of the scooter stretches back to the velocipede, which is considered the forerunner of the modern bicycle, a two-wheeled human powered ride. The Autoped was the first mass-produced motorised scooter developed in the United States around 1915 . The Autoped had issues with the high cost presenting a barrier to entry but was eventually overcome with new regulations such as requiring a driver’s license and insurance which removed its commercial viability. The scooter re-entered the market with the invention of the foldable kick-scooter which saw commercial success as a children’s toy in the 2000s. E-scooters as a shared micromobility service was first introduced in the USA in 2017 when the first dockless service was launched by “Bird” in Santa Monica, California. . This shared scheme was made available using new technologies such as the smart phone with Internet of Things (IOT) integration and Global Positioning System (GPS) to create a functional and manageable service.

Early Market Development

E-scooters have become a prevalent mode of transport in many cities across the world in recent years. The first Australian dockless e-scooter scheme was in Queensland, where the distributor Lime received a permit to operate from November 2018 until mid-2019. Since then, all states and territories across Australia have participated in trials allowing e-scooters on permissible areas determined by the local Council in collaboration with State Government.

Paris was one of the earliest European cities to have rental e-scooters introduced in June 2018 and their rapid success at the time suggests that the local community and tourists found something more than what exists in the existing transport modes. It is apparent that e-scooters are an attractive option for recreational use appealing to tourists visiting a city as an initial market niche. For the e-scooters to help play a positive role in the transport market, journeys made by e-scooters should replace short vehicle trips. Critics reason that e-scooter trips mainly replace trips that would otherwise have been made by more sustainable means of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport.

A common approach that many cities across Australia took was the shared e-scooter trial program where the State Government would enable Council’s to trial e-scooters in their local government areas. The data is used to help inform the future of e-scooters in states and territories. Although, after utilising the e-scooter schemes, many users bought their own private device which has been an ongoing challenge for many states and territories across Australia to manage.

The Role of Policy

The roll-out of e-scooters has been greatly affected by policies and regulations that have been long standing in Australia. E-scooters are considered personal mobility devices and differ in the Road Rules to similar mobility devices such as bicycles or skateboards. The current legislative policies dictating e-scooter use are summarised in Table 1. .

Table 1 - Summary of e-scooter legislation by state

State/territory	Where you can ride	Private Ownership
NSW	Trial locations only	No
QLD	Public footpaths, shared paths, cycleways and roads with speed limits of 50km/h or lower	Yes
Vic	Public footpaths, shared paths, cycleways and roads with speed limits of 50km/h or lower	Yes
WA	Public footpaths, shared paths, cycleways and roads with speed limits of 50km/h or lower	Yes
SA	Trial locations only	No
Tas	Public footpaths, shared paths, cycleways and roads with speed limits of 50km/h or lower	Yes
NT	Public footpaths, shared paths and cycleways	Yes
ACT	Public footpaths, shared paths and cycleways	Yes

*Vic amended from source material to include private ownership due to updated legislation.

Growth

Australia is still in its infancy phase with regard to the national implementation of e-scooters, with State Agencies taking the lead on legislative framework and policy. After utilising the e-scooter schemes, many users bought their own private device which has been an ongoing challenge for many states and territories across Australia to manage. The public sector took on the role as the regulator, delivering policies and updating legislation to determine safe use of e-scooters. The private sector are the suppliers, where the e-scooter providers are engaged to local government to provide a service and manage the ongoing operations of the e-scooters.

Case Study: Melbourne City Council

Melbourne City Council introduced a shared e-scooter trial program in 2022 partnering with two private suppliers. Whilst the Victorian State Government opted to extend the trial period for Council’s participating in shared e-scooter schemes, Melbourne City Council resolved to end the shared e-scooter scheme citing ongoing safety concerns in 2024. E-scooters had resulted in 256 injured persons presented to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 2022 during the first year of the trial. Regardless of this decision, the Victorian State Government officially legalised the use of e-scooters in Victoria for private use whilst local government areas such as Melbourne City Council continue to not offer shared e-scooter schemes. In major cities like Melbourne, shared e-scooter services can enhance urban mobility, but their success and sustainability depend on cross-government collaboration and careful consideration of the interests and needs of customers .

Maturity

Policies and legislative frameworks are constantly evolving from a “lock-in” state as e-scooter trial schemes continue across Australia. States and territories are slowly starting to deliver a consistent approach to policy making concerning these micromobility devices. Although, the ongoing uncertainty concerning the cross-governmental framework, policy and legislation of e-scooters has an effect on providers entering the Australian market. The shared e-scooter providers continue to deal directly with local councils to secure contracts and continue servicing the community. This is proving to be a barrier to entry, with some Councils rejecting the States proposals to start e-scooter trials in their Local Government Area. It has been found that almost half a million people across New South Wales own e-scooters but are not legally allowed to use them .

Active transport Infrastructure design has typically catered for pedestrians and cyclists, with many states relying on shared paths as a viable cycling facility along key transport links. The inclusion of new micromobility devices has introduced new safety challenges across the transport network in particularly on paths that are shared with pedestrians. This infrastructure has suffered from ‘lock-in’ and there is little guidance for local government on how to adjust design for micromobility devices and provide greater separation from pedestrians and motorists.

An opportunity to re-invent the mode include synthesising the policy and legislation to be consistent across all states and territories. If the policy and legislation is consistent and predictable, a more competitive market for shared e-scooter schemes could emerge and private ownership be better regulated. Enabling providers to operate across local government boundaries reducing the administration required for each government agency and creating greater economies of scale.

Opportunities to address safety concerns include physical separation from pedestrians and motor vehicles. This can be achieved through road space reallocation to accommodate separated paths, reducing the likelihood of an e-scooter and pedestrian impact. Additionally, lowering traffic speeds in urban centres will reduce the likelihood of an e-scooter and motor vehicle impact at intersections. The transport mode itself has effective tools such as geofencing, low speed zones and GPS location that help make these devices a safe and attractive option, although the externalities greatly affect the ability to better serve the needs of today and tomorrow.

Quantitative

Data

Ride Report has prepared a micromobility dashboard that provides a comprehensive overview of the volume of e-scooter trips made in Australia.. The data is delivered quarterly and has been analysed as such due to the limited duration e-scooters have been prevalent in Australia as outlined in Table 2. Dummy variables are used to represent the quarterly data numerically for the purposes of linear regression.

Table 2 - Observed users of e-scooters per quarter

Quarter	t_Quarter	Observed Users (thousands)	Predicted Users (thousands)
2020_1	0	480	674
2020_2	1	162	779
2020_3	2	409	892
2020_4	3	1000	1012
2021_1	4	1086	1137
2021_2	5	1071	1266
2021_3	6	862	1394
2021_4	7	1370	1521
2022_1	8	2305	1642
2022_2	9	2176	1757
2022_3	10	1957	1864
2022_4	11	2273	1961
2023_1	12	2561	2049
2023_2	13	2112	2126
2023_3	14	2006	2194
2023_4	15	2232	2253
2024_1	16	2519	2304
2024_2	17	2008	2347
2024_3	18	1475	2383
2024_4	19	1068	2414

Graphical Representation

External link to figure illustrative of the predicted vs. observed S-curve(s) for E-scooters in Australia:

https://imgur.com/a/8rRzLKt

Analysis

S(t) = Smax/[1+exp(-b(t-ti)]

where:

• S(t) is the status measure representing the number of e-scooter users in thousands.
• Smax is saturation status level set to the maximum observed usage in a quarter.
• ti is the inflection point where half of the maximum number of users is reached represented in quarters.
• b is a coefficient determining the rate of change.

This equation then used to determine the predicted users (thousands) in Table 2.

Linear Regression

An ordinary least squares linear regression was undertaken using Microsoft Excel data analysis to estimate the growth factor b. Results of the regression are outlined in Table 3.

Y = bX + c

Y = ln ((Users / (Smax - Users)) [Logit Model]

X = t_Quarter

where:

• Smax* = 2562 (the approximate maximum observed value of e-scooter users from the data)

Table 3 - Summary results of linear regression for maximum observed value*

R-squared	0.272742
t-statistic	2.598171
Intercept	-1.029690
Growth factor (b)	0.201172

The model is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level with a t-statistic greater than 2. An R-squared of 0.27 indicates that the quarter (independent variable) explains 27% of the variation in the amount of users riding an e-scooter (dependent variable). There are observed variations from the trend line in the data as government agencies work out how to implement these devices across their jurisdictions, and in some cases remove them.

As e-scooters are a relatively new device in the Australian transport landscape, limited data is available to effectively forecast future users. There are many externalities involved in providing an accurate forecast as outlined in the qualitative analysis but for the purposes of this assessment an R-squared value of 0.27 is acceptable. Additionally, the volume of users is not yet saturated and therefore the Smax value may not be a useful indicator in this case.

Conclusion

The introduction of e-scooters into the Australian market in 2018 has delivered a new set of opportunities and challenges to tackle. A positive growth factor based on the data indicates that there has been an increase in e-scooter users from 2020 onwards and will continue to grow across the nation. Policy and legislative frameworks need to support the continued growth for this trajectory to be sustainable.

As outlined in the predicted vs. observed S-curve(s) for E-scooters in Australia, the use of e-scooters experienced rapid growth from 2020 onwards, as local government areas began rolling out e-scooter trial programs. By the beginning of 2022, Melbourne and Adelaide had commenced their trial programs significantly boosting the market share across Australia. By 2023, the highest number of users was witnessed as states began to adjust policy and legislative framework to consider private ownership. In 2024, a notable decline in users has been the trend as Councils such as Melbourne City Council pull the plug on their shared scheme.

E-scooters have not yet reached a maturity phase as the future of these devices are dependent on Government jurisdictions implementing programs effectively and collaboratively. Continued research during the birthing and growth phase of e-scooters will be important to ensure they can reach maturity and play a part in the growth of micromobility as alternative modes of transport.