• Beam secures an exclusive permit to continue operations along the coast of Adelaide’s West
• Beam’s operations will span a coastal route through City of Port Adelaide Enfield, City of Charles Sturt, City of West Torrens

[5 April 2022] Leading micromobility company Beam has renewed a partnership with the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, City of Charles Sturt and the City of West Torrens, securing an exclusive permit to operate on Adelaide’s west coast.

The coastal route forms part of Beam’s existing Adelaide operations, with the new permit running for 6 months until 31 October 2022. 

The extension comes as Beam’s latest rider data from Adelaide shows an increased reliance on shared micromobility due to recent expansions within the city and also higher fuel prices:

• Beam’s Adelaide data shows a year-on-year increase of 28% in the average length of trips, indicating riders are travelling further, and for longer
• The average duration of an Adelaide e-scooter trip is 12 minutes - an increase in 15% year on year
• 81% of Adelaide riders reveal they will rely more on shared micromobility, instead of on their own car or taxis/ride-sharing services, if fuel-costs continue to rise. 85% of riders surveyed in Canberra own a car, hence this does suggest a shift towards transport methods that do not rely on fuel.
• 31% of this group anticipate their usage of shared micromobility to increase by up to 25%, whilst 40% of respondents anticipate an increase of between 25-50%. 
• Beam’s Adelaide riders rely on shared e-scooters largely for work commutes (43%) and leisure purposes (65%), with riders also revealing they rely on e-scooters to travel to and from study (14.77%). This shows that many riders are increasingly utilising e-scooters for more than one ‘use case’ or travel category, with micromobility being more entrenched in day-to-day life 

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City of Port Adelaide Enfield’s Manager (Design, Construction & Transport) Chris Dunn, said: 

“We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Beam with the use of e-scooters along the Coastal Path and hope to see numbers increase as people become more comfortable with their use and as we welcome more interstate and international visitors with the easing of COVID restrictions.”

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Beam General Manager (ANZ) Tom Cooper, said: 

“We are pleased to be renewing our relationship with the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, City of Charles Sturt and the City of West Torrens, continuing to bring safe and affordable shared micromobility to visitors to the Adelaide Coast.

“As we continue to offer shared micromobility in the Adelaide Coast, our commitment is first and foremost to the safety of both the riding and non-riding community, and ensuring rider compliance with the state legislation. 

“We have comprehensive in-app rider education, and incorporate safety features such as precision geofencing, vehicle tracking, triple brakes and bluetooth-locked helmets. 

“We thank the three councils for continuing to adopt shared micromobility, and aim to expand our operating area in Adelaide’s West in the coming months.

“Since we expanded our operating area in Adelaide to include areas within City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters back in May last year, we’ve seen a month on month increase in trips by 20%, month on month usage between the suburbs into the CBD increase by 25%, trips to bus stops increase by 18% and trips from bus stops increase by 16%.

“That’s a really great indication of reliance on micromobility as a mode of transport, and of modal shift, and we hope to continue this trend.” 

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