Neuron’s map differs slightly, stopping at the Dutton Park train station, where three of the company’s scooters were parked.
Lime’s geofencing cuts through Noble Street in Fairfield, just down the road from the Dutton Park train station.Credit: Felicity Caldwell
A public bike-hire scheme, CityCycle, was introduced in 2010, with bikes available from more than 40 docking stations in inner-Brisbane. But the bikes were criticised for being heavy and lacking electric motors.
Three Neuron e-scooters at the edge of the map in Dutton Park.Credit: Felicity Caldwell
After dockless e-scooters arrived in Brisbane in 2018, they made up five trips for every trip on a CityCycle. Running at a loss, CityCycle was axed in 2021.
Queensland Walks executive officer Anna Campbell said Brisbane City Council collected significant revenue from e-scooter contracts, and residents expected to see that invested in improving places to walk and ride.
“Ensuring that e-mobility devices don’t obstruct our vital walking spaces should be at the forefront of every contract agreement with Brisbane City Council, along with council creating off-footpath parking locations for devices,” she said.
“Providing permanent hubs where e-mobility can be parked off the footpath is a basic solution we continue to suggest to BCC, however the uptake has been slow.”
Campbell said CityCycle’s docked bike system was a much better solution to more effectively plan and manage parking.
“We were incredibly disappointed to see that the old CityCycle parking bays were not reused and adapted for the current devices,” she said.
A Neuron spokesman said the overwhelming majority of people rode and parked responsibly, with more than 99.99 per cent of trips ending safely and without incident.
A row of responsibly parked Lime and Neuron devices near the South Brisbane Cemetery, inside the map boundary.Credit: Felicity Caldwell
“Our operations team actively relocates e-scooters throughout the day to ensure they are available where demand is highest,” he said.
“Many of the e-scooters near the edge of our riding area are those that have been recently used by commuters.
Lime has been setting up designated parking bays in Brisbane since 2024, with more to come.Credit: Lime
“We also proactively deploy e-scooters to these outer areas at key times of the day, making it easier for residents to travel into the heart of the city without making short car trips.”
A Lime spokeswoman said the company was funding designated parking bays in the CBD, South Bank, Fortitude Valley and West End.
“We are working closely with Brisbane City Council to build out further spaces in the coming months,” she said.
“These bays help ensure all shared e-scooters are parked neatly and kept clear of pedestrian pathways.”
Lime and Neuron require users to take an end-of-trip photo showing their e-scooter parked correctly, with repeat offenders receiving warnings or account suspensions.
A council spokesman said Lime and Neuron were responsible for how their devices were parked.
“E-scooters and e-bikes should be parked safely and out of the way, and we ask operators to make sure this happens,” the spokesman said.
“Shared e-mobility devices should be left either in a marked parking area or in a way that doesn’t create a hazard, or on the kerbside of the footpath.”
The spokesman said painted e-mobility hubs had been delivered at 24 locations and seven more would be installed this year.
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Last week, Councillor Andrew Wines refused to detail how much cash from Brisbane’s Neuron and Lime contracts was being funnelled back into bike paths, after Labor MP Jonty Bush suggested they were worth about $14 million.
Wines, the public transport chair, said the council’s experience had “not always been great” with contracted external entities.
“But the ones we have at the moment are very good,” he said.
Last year, an investigation showed Beam was exceeding its vehicle cap of 1800 by about 500 a day with “ghost” devices, depriving the council of about $330,000.
