E-scooters clock up 9000 kilometres in first week of Albury trial

Users of the Beam e-scooters have travelled more than 9000 kilometres since they were launched on Friday, December 15.

The 300 purple scooters have been taken on more than 4500 trips at an average distance of 2.1 kilometres.

Beam revealed usage was highest from 3pm to 5pm on weekdays, but peaked between 5pm and 9pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and Sunday afternoon from 4pm.

However, the scooters have drawn criticism from some residents for being strewn across the city and their potential to cause accidents.

Albury Council chief executive Frank Zaknich said while feedback had been mixed, he was confident the community would embrace the new form of transport.

"I think as a community as the novelty wears off in terms of the whole scooter trial and provision, we'll move to a more mature understanding of the fact that scooters provide a really valuable public transport option for many in our community who can't afford a vehicle or have difficulty accessing existing public transport," he said.

Mr Zaknich has used one of the scooters himself and said the trial would ideally shape potential future use for private scooters.

"The whole purpose of the trial was a result of a number of councils advocating, including Albury City, for legislation around the use of scooters to be enabled," he said.

"At the moment, private e-scooters are not able to be used on public roads and footpaths. That's the whole tenet of understanding how the whole scooter trial will operate and the impacts that may have.

"From a public transport perspective, I think we're moving to a more positive outlook in terms of the scooter trial."

Beam's NSW operations manager Ned Dale has been pleased with the response in Albury.

"It's early days, but we're excited about the early data showing potential for shared micromobility to provide transport connections to residents and visitors in Albury, and replace trips that would otherwise be taken in a car," he said.

"The vast majority of riders are doing the right thing, and we're pleased to see riders engaging with our Beam Safe Academy and following the rules.

"However, our three-strikes policy is in place and riders face penalties, suspension and permanent bans for bad riding and parking offences. Our team on the ground is particularly keeping an eye out for those riding without a helmet, riding on the footpath and parking incorrectly.

"We want riders to know that riding and parking safely is their responsibility, and that our team are out there enforcing the rules."

Mr Zaknich urged the community to report any scooters dumped around the city to Beam or contact the council's customer service department to have the information relayed to the operator.