The director of an established e-scooter hire business says she has received a barrage of misdirected complaints about a rival company’s machines “polluting the landscape”.
Kate Ogg, of Oggy E-Scooters, told Sunshine Coast News she had taken “an unbearable number of phone calls and messages” from people grumbling about e-scooters from Neuron Mobility.
But a spokesperson for the newer venture has defended their use, asserting that they have had “very few reported issues” and they operate under strict conditions.
Ms Ogg said she had fielded complaints from many people who “think we own the orange scooters”.
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“They complain about scooters visually polluting the landscape,” she said.
“The biggest issue we have is the number of complaints from people discovering scooters submerged in our waterways.
“One call was from a man, who lives on the Maroochy River, who pulled 10 Neuron scooters out of the river at low tide in one go.
“Saltwater short circuits lithium batteries, leading to fires that are extremely difficult to extinguish.”
Ms Ogg also said there were grievances about unsafe practices.
“Massive numbers of Sunny Coasters are calling us to say they have spotted riders with no helmets … and young, unaccompanied children,” she said.
“One Yakola Parade resident called us to say there was a ‘mob’ of underage males ‘terrorising the street’.”
Ms Ogg said she had tried to contact Neuron but could not reach them.
Oggy E-Scooters, established in in early 2021, has about 150 prominent green e-scooters in the area from Noosa to Pelican Waters.
Neuron, which has partnered with cities around the world, expanded to Maroochydore and Mooloolaba in June, linking with Sunshine Coast Council for an 18-month trial.
They have rolled out about 400 e-scooters and 75 e-bikes.
A spokesperson for Neuron said the business was committed to safety and equipment, had stringent measures in place and there were “very few reported incidents”.
“Thankfully, cases of vandalism are rare on the Sunshine Coast,” they said.
“Our fleet is GPS-enabled and connected, and we track all trips.
“If an e-scooter is vandalised, we remotely immobilise it. It is then retrieved to the warehouse for evaluation and repair.
“Our team of ground patrollers are constantly repositioning our e-scooters safely and moving them to where they are needed most, as well as cleaning, safety checking and changing batteries.
“Our e-scooters are also fitted with registration plates so members of the public can report any issues to our customer support team, via our app or by phone and email – the details can be found on our website and on our vehicles.”
The spokesperson said they had enjoyed a successful expansion to the region.
“Neuron’s e-scooters have made a promising start on the Sunshine Coast, with 70,000km travelled,” they said.
“We have had very few reported issues and 99.99 per cent of trips end safely.
“We continue to work with the council to further enhance the service for riders and the local community, (and) we are constantly reviewing parking locations based on rider behaviour and direct feedback and we have had requests for additional parking stations.”
Sunshine Coast News approached council for comments about dumped e-scooters but was told “the operator Neuron would be best placed to answer the questions”.
Council did, however, recently issue a media release hailing Neuron’s eco-friendly impact.
“It’s important to provide alternative transport solutions that are kinder to our environment and easily accessible, reducing our reliance on cars, particularly for shorter journeys,” Sunshine Coast Council CEO Emma Thomas said.
“They are a great way for locals and tourists to travel in a convenient and fun way.
“The (Neuron) app also allows for easy location of the designated parking locations where e-scooters and e-bikes are available from 5am and 9pm.
Neuron Mobility regional manager Tim Morris said the community was encouraged to provide feedback during the trial.
He said safety was the company’s top priority.
“It dictates the design of our vehicles and the way we operate them,” he said.
Neuron e-scooters are speed limited to 12km/h and have topple detection and a helmet lock.
Another e-mobility business, Beam, recently paused its operations in the Noosa region, just a few months after expanding there.
The company cited rider feedback on the limitations of partner parking locations.
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