Two selected for Auckland e-scooter licences

Lime and Kiwi-owned Flamingo have been selected by the Auckland Council to receive new rental micromobility licences in Auckland. 

They were among seven licence applications received and will be licensed for two years from November 4, 2024.

Beam had its Auckland e-scooter licence cancelled in August.

The chosen providers demonstrated a commitment to safety initiatives and reducing nuisance, says Auckland Council licensing and environmental health manager Mervyn Chetty.

“Both Lime and Flamingo have a history of operating in Auckland and around New Zealand.,” he says.
“Their applications represented the best offering for Aucklanders, with both committing to a range of initiatives to support public transport connections, improved parking and safer riding.”

About 3000 e-scooters are allocated in Auckland, with 900 in tier 1 (city centre), 900 in tier 2 (city fringe) and 1200 in tier 3 (suburban). This allocation will remain the same from November 4, but with the allocation split across the two providers, says Chetty.

“Having just two operators allows riders to easily find a device with their preferred provider, as well as allowing us to monitor and work with providers more closely.”. 

Lime and Flamingo will each be allowed 900 devices split across tiers 1 and 2. In tier 3, Lime will have 700 devices and Flamingo will have 500. 

The council has identified improvements that can be made to the Rental Micromobility Code of Practice to better manage operator compliance and influence user behaviour, says Chetty.

Changes will include:

1.           Faster response times required to rectify non-compliant parking, reduced from 90 to 75 minutes in tier 1 (city centre) and tier 2 (city fringe). 

1.           Faster response times to rectify toppled scooters, reduced from 90 to 75 minutes in tiers 1 and 2.

1.           Strengthened data provisions.  

From November 4 the council will no longer license rental e-bikes. Previous e-bike licences saw a low number of trips, with operators having removed all rental e-bike devices from the streets.

Operators have committed to work with the Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to develop a strategy to successfully bring rental e-bikes back to the region.

Applications were assessed against the requirements of the Public Trading, Events and Filming Bylaw 2022 and Auckland Transport’s Activities in the Road Corridor Bylaw 2022 and were considered to ensure that the applicants could demonstrate their ability to comply with the Rental Micromobility Code of Practice (version 3), says the council. 

Click here for more information on rental e-scooters in Auckland.