Source: Auckland Council
Aucklanders can take a rental e-scooter ride again under Alert Level 2 guidelines for New Zealand, but getting scooting again means everyone taking extra care with safety.
Like all other organisations trying to get back to business in Alert Level 2 e-scooter operators are guided by Worksafe and government guidelines for reintroducing their services.
“We have had conversations with operators and are encouraged to see each business has put in place a COVID-19 safety plan,” says Auckland Council’s e-scooter programme lead Mervyn Chetty.
Physical distancing and extra hygiene measures are a priority for e-scooters.
“On the council and AT’s part we’ll be closely monitoring parking compliance around the city centre but it’s important that riders are also diligent with distancing – we want to see e-scooters parked considerately; allowing for all footpath users to keep their distance. Like everything else we do at the moment good hand hygiene is critical before and after riding too.”
The e-scooter Code of Practice continues to be a key tool that guides how licence holders and the council work together.
“We will continue to check in with operators as per the timeframes set out in the Code of Practice and in a level 2 environment this will mean an increased emphasis on working together to meet those government safety guidelines,” says Chetty.
AT parking wardens will be monitoring streets in the city centre and over the next few weeks the council and AT will be checking and adjusting e-scooter deployment locations based on need and demand.
The council and AT notes that it is likely that fewer e-scooters will be deployed on the streets than in pre-lockdown times.
