Another Australian city has banned electric scooter rentals on its streets.
Townsville City Council in Far North Queensland voted this week to end its contract with electric bike rental company Beam Mobility, citing compliance issues and a lack of information about the number of scooters across the city.
This comes after Brisbane and Darwin suspended their contracts with the electric scooter company over the past week.
At least 300 purple electric scooters will be removed from Townsville over the next four weeks.
Mayor Troy Thompson described the contract with Beam as “not a good deal for us.”
“To be honest, we know that the number has exceeded 300, so I think it’s important to understand that.” Townsville Bulletin reported.
‘But we also need to establish exactly what was used and then we will get those numbers back as soon as we can.
“We have information that tells us that it is not a good business for us at this time.”
Townsville City Council has voted to terminate its contract with Beam Mobility following compliance issues and a failure to report the number of scooters in the city.
The number of e-scooters had been limited to 300 when the contract began in 2020 to ensure safety in open spaces and on trails in Townsville.
When Beam electric scooters were introduced to the city, they competed with Neuron Mobility, which had started operating a month earlier.
The council is now re-evaluating options for future e-scooter operations in Townsville.
“The council is continuing its investigation into the company’s failure to comply with contractual terms, given recent revelations about Beam’s failure to provide information regarding Active Scooters,” the council said in a statement.
‘Council has communicated this decision to Beam and has requested the prompt removal of all Beam e-scooters from public spaces in Townsville.’
Beam had been operating in Townsville since 2020 and had a limit of 300 electric scooters to operate daily (pictured, a file photo of a rider and a Beam electric scooter)
The Singapore-based company operates 37 locations across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe and must pay a registration fee for each electric vehicle and/or a percentage of what drivers pay to rent one.
Beam is under investigation in Australia and New Zealand for deploying “ghost” scooters on the streets to avoid the maximum number of vehicles.
Brisbane City Council will refer the company to the corporate watchdog and has not ruled out police action after an audit found Beam was averaging an extra 500 scooters each day in the CBD.
With a limit of 1,800, the company exceeded the number of scooters it was allowed to operate by about 27 percent.
The investigation took place over 12 months and found that taxpayers lost $330,000 in fees.
Beam has recently lost contracts in Brisbane and Auckland, after investigations revealed they exceeded their permitted daily limit (file image)
The limit in Auckland was found to be exceeded by an average of 40 percent daily.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Beam Mobility for comment.
It is the latest chapter in what appears to be a revolt against electric scooters in Australian cities.
Renting e-scooters in Melbourne’s CBD will soon be a thing of the past after a series of complaints about the popular vehicles, with the mayor saying they clog up the city’s pavements and are a tripping hazard.
