Overview
The dockless bike sharing phenomenon hasn't exactly proved a roaring success here in Australia, with rogue bikes clogging up footpaths, or winding up broken and abandoned in dangerous locations, and oBike withdrawing from Melbourne entirely.
And still, yet another company is keen to give the concept a whirl locally — this time, featuring electric scooters. Aussie start-up Scootie has announced it'll launch a trial program of its ride share service in November this year, giving locals in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth the chance to be the first to road-test its fleet of electric scooters.
Punters keen to get involved are invited to sign up now to Scootie's mailing list.
Riffing on the scooter systems that have been going gang-busters over in the USA, the local company is still nailing down its technology, with plans to launch the pilot program in St Kilda, before rolling out across CBD areas.
At this stage, riders will simply locate a scooter, scan and pay via the Scootie smartphone app, before jetting off on their two-wheeled adventure. According to Scootie spokesman Troy Taylor, details about specific scooter deposit zones and charging stations are yet to be confirmed, though there will be a bond taken to help deter people from damaging or abandoning the scooters.
Trip costs are also in the process of being finalised, with Taylor suggesting they'll start at around 20-40 cents per minute. So, for example, a 40-minute journey would cost between $8 and $16.
Scootie's trial program is slated to launch in November and run for several weeks. You can sign up to be a part of it here.