The Gold Coast City Council in Australia has confiscated 23 electric
scooters less than a day after a global company launched a scooter ride
share service in the city.
The company, Lime, rolled out electric scooters on the Gold Coast on
Friday, after rolling out the scooters in Brisbane in November.
But a dispute broke out immediately with the Gold Coast council.
Council transport director Alton Twine told the media on Friday the
company was in breach of a local law and would have two hours to move
their scooters off the streets.
On Saturday, the council released a statement saying it had taken 22
Lime scooters off Gold Coast streets and one scooter owned by the
company i-RIDE.
Mr Twine said Lime needed permission to set up a scooter ride share
service and had not approached the council before starting operations on
the Gold Coast.
"What we don't accept in this city is operators just turning up and
essentially plonking their products down on city streets and footpaths,"
he said.
Mr Twine said council was undertaking a study into the possibility of electric scooter ridesharing on the Gold Coast.
"The issue here is one of public safety - we know that there is already
plenty of concerns from the public about scooter use on footpaths and
shared paths," he said.
Lime's director of government affairs, Mitchell Price, said in a
statement they had decided to temporarily cease operations on the Gold
Coast and "request the council ensure the same standard for other
operations".
Mr Price said Lime would hold community events in the coming weeks to educate residents about the company's scooters.
In New Zealand, Lime scooters have already been rolled out in Auckland, Christchurch, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.
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