Canberra's e-scooter fleet could increase by hundreds by the end of 2022, as the ACT government plans to expand their usage in Belconnen, Woden, Gungahlin, Tuggeranong, Weston and greater Belconnen.
The city's 1500 e-scooters have grown to a total 1900, an additional 200 each from companies Beam and Neuron, to facilitate a route between Belconnen and Civic.
More e-scooter zones will be introduced to supplement other public and private transport, as construction projects such as the light rail extension cause disruption into the future.
"Particularly the expansion down to Woden is going to provide us with the benefit of adding a new form of mobility for people during a period of disruption when there are large infrastructure projects -- public and private -- being built," Minister for Transport Chris Steel said.
"That might enable them to make more efficient trips into work or into other parts of Canberra."
Visitors embrace e-scooters
Visitors to Canberra, Marianne and Peter Currey, said they spent an hour touring sites on the e-scooters on Monday.
Mr Currey said he was a convert after using the e-scooter for the first time.
"It's amazing and it's just so well set up for it around the parks [and lake]," he said. "I don't know if we'll hire a car next time, we can just use these."
Ms Currey noted that Canberra seemed well laid out for the transport option.
The ACT government last month passed laws to ensure e-scooter riders have a clear obligation to maintain control of their device at all times and ride responsibly, and the Legislative Assembly will this week debate more new legislation to strengthen drug and alcohol laws around e-scooters.
"I have personally seen, unfortunately a number of people using the scooters outside of nightclubs on a Friday night or Saturday night ... two people on a scooter at once, no helmet, under the influence," Mr Steel said. "And that's why we're tightening up the legislation to prohibit those types of activities."
The Belconnen to Civic extension had followed data from the providers showing people trying to make the trip despite geo-fencing, he said.
"We found that people have been attempting to make the journey between Belconnen and the city even though there wasn't a link, and they couldn't do that because of that geo-fence that was in place with the technology," he said.
New safety provisions will also be implemented, including no-ride zones in Radford College, Haydon Retirement Community, inside GIO stadium and Gossan Hill.
Calvary hospital is a permanent slow zone, with a speed limit of 15 km per hour, while GIO Stadium will have this limit in place 90 minutes before and after major events.
There are also 18 new parking sites, and no-parking zones have been marked to prevent dumping in and around nature reserves.
The heads of e-scooter companies Beam and Neuron both welcomed the extension.
Canberra Lead for Beam, Ned Dale said the company was "first and foremost" focused on safety.
Neuron's Richard Hannah thanked the ACT government and said the company looked forward to reaching more people.
