E-Scooter Management in the City of Adelaide: Insights from a Designated Parking Trial

Parking has been a thorny issue for e-scooter share services in many countries.

Penelope Bennett, Senior Transport Planner at the City of Adelaide, will share insight to a trial by the SA council to test the effectiveness and desirability of designated scooter parking.

The trial received mixed feedback about designated parking and identified technical and practical issues. The outcomes of a community survey for the trial will help determine if e-scooter designated parking zones (with decals on the footpath) are appropriate infrastructure for ongoing use. It will also highlight benefits and issues with the wider application of designated parking.

Four e-scooter trials have been approved in SA, including two in the City of Adelaide. Like shares services in many locations, the Adelaide trials sparked concern about the placement of e-scooters in busy pedestrian areas. That included the potential impact of e-scooter parking on the movement and safety of people walking, especially people with disability and where footpaths are narrow.

The council and service operators, Beam and Neuron, have worked collaboratively on e-scooter parking trials along two streets, chosen for their busy pedestrian areas, bus corridors and/or on-street dining areas.