City of Melbourne's e-scooter ban under pressure from councils in city's inner-north
Three Melbourne councils are joining forces to bring in e-scooter and e-bike hire across the city's inner north. The initiative by the mayors of Darebin, Merri-bek and Moonee Valley follows a looming ban on e-scooter hire introduced by the City of Melbourne.
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00:00These freewheeling mayors want e-scooter hire in their hoods.
00:08The mayors of Meribec, Darabin and Moonee Valley are pushing for a zone across their
00:12councils where e-scooters and e-bikes would be available for hire.
00:17It's a critical link between east and west where there's public transport gaps.
00:23E-scooters provide a cheap and sustainable transport option for residents to get around
00:27wherever they need to go.
00:28The move comes just over a week after City of Melbourne councillors voted to break contracts
00:34on a trial hire scheme six months early over safety concerns, with the Royal Melbourne
00:39Hospital reporting a massive increase in injuries since hire services began.
00:44If the Inner North Council's plan goes ahead, there would effectively be a no-go zone between
00:49the northern and southern suburbs for hired e-scooters, with Yarra and Port Phillip councils
00:55also running e-scooter trials.
00:57It was unexpected for the City of Melbourne to ban e-scooters, but I believe there's huge
01:03value in creating an Inner North shared mobility zone, no matter what Melbourne does.
01:07The state government says it's disappointed in the City of Melbourne ban, and will work
01:11with local councils who choose to introduce e-scooters on how best to manage their operations.
01:17For these councils themselves, ultimately it is a matter for them.
01:20What I would say, if you're going to get on an e-scooter, stick to the rules.
01:24The Lord Mayor says his council won't be backing down.
01:28On this issue we respectfully disagree.
01:30The truth is the built form, the population density and the way people move around in
01:35the central city is different to those other areas.
01:38You'll never stop poor behaviour completely, but we don't say that we're going to ban cars
01:42because of poor driver behaviour.
01:45Driving a debate about the best way to get around town.
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