"E-scooters are here to stay".

Such was the declaration of Minister for Public and Active Transport Gabrielle Williams, who fronted a press conference last month announcing the permanent legalisation of e-scooters across Victoria. 

Unbeknownst to Ms Williams, the man standing to her right during the press conference would effectively sign a death warrant for share hire e-scooters in Melbourne's CBD just over three weeks later. 

Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece launched a motion to cancel contracts with e-scooter companies Lime and Neuron at Tuesday's council meeting, with the vote carrying it 6-4.

The move has caught the Victorian government by surprise, with Premier Jacinta Allan calling on the council to rethink its decision.

Mr Reece was initially a supporter of e-scooters when the trial was launched in 2022, and stood side-by-side with Minister Williams spruiking new safety policies in July. 

But the lord mayor has now made his own personal feelings on e-scooters clear, which he says are indicative of the broader community.

"Like many, I am fed up with the bad behaviour that has been putting our community at risk," Mr Reece told ABC Melbourne radio before the council meeting.

On Wednesday, Premier Jacinta Allan said the council had acted to rashly in abandoning e-scooters, which were permanently legalised across the state in July.

"We could see on balance there was a benefit to having scooters as part of the suite of public transport options, whether it's buses and trains and trams, and I would hope that on balance the City of Melbourne would reconsider their position," she said.

"There is a role for e-scooters in our public transport network for those last-mile journeys, for getting cars off local roads and I really hope City of Melbourne can have a change of heart on this decision."

The council was originally due to meet to discuss the introduction of new safety technology for e-scooters in Melbourne, before Mr Reece moved an alternative motion to break the city's e-scooter contracts altogether.

The contracts with the e-scooter companies Lime and Neuron are not due to expire for another six months, but Mr Reece called the situation "shameful" and said council could not wait that long.

Council must give the companies at least 30 days notice, meaning e-scooters could be removed entirely from the CBD before the next council elections in October. 

E-scooter hiring companies caught on backfoot by snap council decision

Three of the share hire e-scooter companies operating in Victoria — Beam, Lime and Neuron — attended Tuesday's council meeting to make submissions prior the vote. 

Neuron said the news of the motion came as a surprise.

"We have been having in-depth discussions with the City of Melbourne team for weeks about how to best optimise the city's e-scooter program and have been working on delivering their plans for how to best regulate the e-scooter program for the future."

Neuron noted that the previously planned implementation of new safety technology such as AI-powered cameras along with rules would have made Melbourne's e-scooter program the most tightly regulated in the world. 

Lime said repealing the hire schemes would not improve safety for residents.

"If hire schemes aren’t around, riders will turn to unregulated privately owned scooters that can be modified to travel at the same speeds as cars, and without the ability to implement geofencing, slow zones and helmets," a Lime spokesperson said.

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Some other councillors also expressed surprise at the motion at Tuesday's meeting.

"I've been a councillor for 12 years and last night was the first time that I've been told by the press before being told by my fellow councillors what the motion before the council would be and what the result would be," councillor Rohan Leppert said at the meeting.

Neither Lime nor Neuron have said whether they will pursue legal action in response to council's intention to sever their contracts. 

Safety concerns lead debate over e-scooters

Safety was highlighted as the major concern in the council decision, with representatives from hospitals around Melbourne speaking before council about the dangers of e-scooters.

Emergency medicine physician Sarah Whitelaw said the Royal Melbourne Hospital was seeing between 30 to 40 patients a month from e-scooter related incidents.

"We have an opportunity here with this pause to lead the nation in e-scooter safety and an opportunity to make them a safe and sustainable part of our future," Dr Whitelaw said.

Victoria Police has issued a total of 1,964 e-scooter infringements across Victoria between December 1, 2021 and July 31, 2024. 

The majority of the infringements were issued for offences such as failure to wear a helmet (714), riding e-scooters on a footpath (585) and carrying more than one person on an e-scooter (342).

Between December 1, 2021 and July 31, 2024, there have also been 860 collisions involving e-scooters, with a total of seven fatalities.

Three of the fatalities have occurred since April this year.

These statistics include both share hire e-scooters and privately owned e-scooters.

E-scooters to remain in Ballarat

Ballarat Mayor Des Hudson said the council planned to continue with its e-scooter trial with Neuron.

Unlike Ballarat, he said Melbourne had highly pedestrianised areas which contributed to safety hazards.

"We don't have that level of density and probably have not had the same about of issues that would cause us concern" he said.

"Especially down around Southbank and other areas where there's a big influx of tourists.

"I've witnessed some really inappropriate rider behaviour myself when I've been there with my family."

Cr Hudson said the main concern that had arisen from Ballarat's scooter trial was how riders left the scooters once their ride was done.

"People just leave them … thrown across footpaths or just on nature strips in inappropriate locations. That's probably the largest of the frustrations that our community has experienced."

Cr Hudson said the council did not receive an overwhelming number of complaints about e-scooter use, but people would occasionally call the council to report a e-scooter left in an unsuitable location.

"A majority of riders are now using them appropriately," he said.

Cr Hudson said the council was not aware of an increase in e-scooter injuries in Ballarat in recent times.

He said there may have been more injuries in the first 12 months of the trial, when more young people were using the e-scooters.

More than 300,000 trips have been taken across Ballarat City, with riders travelling more than 700,000 kilometres, according to the council.