The Minister for Road Safety, Shane Rattenbury has revealed that a recent community survey on the introduction of electric scooters into the ACT returned a strongly positive result.
Speaking ahead of a recent road safety forum, Mr Rattenbury said the survey found “significant community support” for electric scooters and similar devices in the ACT.
“Six hundred and seventy contributions were made to the YourSay community survey from a range of groups, including parents, public transport users, pedestrians, cyclists and people who have used these devices in other jurisdictions,” Mr Rattenbury said.
He said 47 per cent of survey respondents said people over 16 years of age should be allowed to ride e-scooters unsupervised.
Other responses indicated that 44 per cent supported a speed limit below 25 kilometres per hour; 89 per cent supported the use of bike lanes for e-scooters; and 75 per cent supported their use on footpaths.
He said 86 per cent believed e-scooters should be allowed on public transport.
“We’ll now take these contributions on board in developing a framework that encourages the use of e-scooters, while not compromising on road safety,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“Importantly, transport options like e-scooters can help people avoid car trips, connect to public transport and be more active.”
Mr Rattenbury said the e-scooters could provide benefits for the environment such as reducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and noise.
