Letter to the Editor: E-scooters are an unwanted inconvenience and serve no benefit to the City of Albany

At the Albany Council’s Development & Infrastructure Services Committee meeting on August 9, I was horrified to hear the hire e-scooter operators claiming additional benefits for the City for the purpose of advancing their request to operate in Albany.

In my opinion, these benefits were at best gross exaggerations.

The claim of collecting dropped-off e-scooters twice a day is just not true.

In my experience, many dropped-off scooters remain where they are left for several days.

Probably the greatest number of businesses in the CBD that might benefit from e-scooters would be shops and supermarkets.

I’ve never seen a scooter shopper departing with a backpack full of shopping.

I rarely see hire scooters in use during business hours.

Frequent cursory observations during business hours have shown little if any change in the numbers of motor vehicles using the car parks at Dog Rock, The Plaza, Albany Central and IGA, North Rd.

This contradicts the claim that scooters will assist the City’s progress towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

There is little if any difference in activity to standing on a scooter compared to sitting in a motor vehicle. This will not encourage regular commuters from motoring to scootering.

Council officers should research these claims, as well as the operators’ busiest times, the ages and marital status of the hirers, and whether they are visitors to Albany.

Hired e-scooters are best described as expensive recreational toys.

They have already proved to be a hindrance to senior gofer riders, invalids in pushchairs, pedestrians pushing prams, as well as cyclists.

They are an unwanted inconvenience and serve no benefit to the City of Albany.

I hope the Council — when finally signing off on whether hire e-scooters should operate in Albany — will prioritise the needs and wants of its citizens before those of out-of-town profiteers.

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