Lime suspended in Auckland
Lime has had electric scooter use in Auckland temporarily suspended.
The company had until noon on February 22 to explain to the Auckland Council and Auckland Transport about an alleged software glitch blamed on some e-scooter wheels randomly locking and sending riders flying.
Lime has advised the council and AT that it has identified 155 reported irregular braking incidents that may have been caused by the unexpected locking issue, 92 of these in Auckland, an AT spokesman says. Of the 155 incidents, 30 resulted in injury of which 19 were in Auckland.
“Following this explanation, we have reviewed Lime’s licence and decided to temporarily suspend the e-scooter trial with Lime, subject to further information being provided and conditions being met.
“We have been clear with Lime representatives that the equipment used on our transport network must be safe for use.
“The safety of people using e-scooters and those that share the environment with them is our number one priority. While we appreciate the amenity that e-scooters offer as an innovative transport solution, safety is not negotiable.”
Both AT and the council have requested that Lime provide incident frequency over the period of the trial relating to the unexpected locking issue, which will also highlight the effect of the recent firmware upgrade.
They also want Lime to provide a full update on progress against the licence extension conditions, agree to report to the council and AT on a 48-hour frequency all incidents and meet weekly with relevant staff to discuss the incident record, analysis and Lime’s response and actions.
Assurances are to be provided in writing of the root cause analysis methodology undertaken, the findings, recommendation and their observation as to success.
Lime also has to accept the council appointment of an independent reviewer with full access to its operations and data as an additional cost to be added to the licence.
Lime has agreed to these conditions and, once the information is received a further decision will be made on whether Lime’s licence suspension will be lifted.
A decision is possible as early as February 25.
The council and AT expect Lime to begin managing the removal of their scooters as soon as practicable.
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Why we cannot attract an operator that can make a good bike available ( not an ONZO ) and then get stuck with a ‘ inferior ‘ scooter product. AT clearly have no selection criteria – yet all around them are seasoned Hirers of both scooters, bikes and E-bikes. How these share schemes would look if we had decent bikes and scooters.
In the end the end consumer pays the safety deficit and the tax payer picks up the hospital bills
Good, they don’t pay tax nor do they pay ACC. They are a burden on our taxpayers.