Scooters are adding choice to Canberra’s transport options. (Pictured: the last scooter riders seen wearing helmets in the ACT.) Photo: Supplied.
You won’t catch me riding an escooter any time soon – not because I am against them per se (though I have had my issues with some users), but because I have zero balance and they scare me. But after my initial disgruntled reaction when the bright orange and purple scooters first arrived in Canberra, I have since come to see them as a blessing to the city.
My issue with them was safety-related. Those early days, having people whoosh past without warning and ride in the bike lanes on Northbourne Avenue did my head in. Now, years after their introduction, I’m pleased to see how consistently Canberrans are using the environmentally friendly scooters as a transport option between public transport spots or around their local area.
And now, the data shows the impact they’re having.
Region reported in November on data from the 2022 Australian Cycling and E-Scooter Economy Report that 31 per cent of the ACT adult population had used an escooter in 2022 and the daily average number of escooter trips in Canberra is 3000.
Meanwhile, the ACT Government also released light rail usage data, boasting that Gungahlin residents are now twice as likely to use public transport as they were when surveyed in 2017. What about the rest of Canberra? Well, public transport usage has dropped by 22 per cent for the entire ACT. This isn’t surprising given the bus timetable has been cut twice since 2019 when light rail launched, and the light rail only services one specific part of the community.
When you look at the total cost of the light rail to date versus the usage data and the impact across the ACT community, it’s hard to fully see the rationale for prioritising it over expenditure on broader public transport solutions that will reach more ACT residents in a shorter timeframe.
I look forward to riding the light rail to Woden in 2028, but in the meantime, I’d like to be able to catch public transport from Watson to Manuka without needing to take two buses, the light rail, walk a kilometre and ultimately spend over an hour travelling what is otherwise a 20-minute drive.
The hardest thing when talking about public transport in Canberra is that any criticism of light rail is seen as being opposed to environmentally friendly transport options. Supporting light rail has become synonymous with being pro-action to combat climate change, and any criticism is seen as wanting to retain the status quo. But this is a false narrative, one that ignores that there are other ways to address carbon emissions and increase public transport usage that don’t have to rely on a fixed rail system that will struggle to fully service a city like Canberra that is decentralised and covers half the land area as London with a much smaller budget to service our modest population.
When I look at the escooter data and the fact that the scheme is cost-neutral for the government, I can see an obvious benefit to both the community and the environment. Light rail is yet to convince me, and it’s likely going to be another decade before the full benefits start to be realised across the city. In the meantime, public transport spending continues to focus on its development, and bus timetables keep frustrating Canberrans who want to leave their car in the garage (or don’t have a car!)
It might be time for me to hop on the escooters, like so many other Canberrans. They might not be a long-distance solution, but they’re definitely making a positive impact on our city.
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