Neuron Mobility, Media Release, 8 November 2022

Livingstone Shire Council and leading e-scooter operator, Neuron Mobility, have announced the city’s first e-scooter programme is due to start on Thursday, 10 November. The 12 month trial will see the gradual roll-out of up to 150 of Neuron’s distinctive orange e-scooters throughout the city, including central Yeppoon, Farnborough Beach and Rosslyn Bay Harbour. Neuron’s operations in Rockhampton are already supported by 30 local jobs with a further 10 jobs to be added to facilitate Yeppoon operations which will be recruited locally. 

Tim Morris, Regional Manager at Neuron Mobility, said: “We are delighted to be launching this week in Yeppoon and look forward to partnering with the Council to deliver a safe and convenient service to help people move around the city. E-scooters are really well suited to the area and they will be a great way for locals as well as tourists to travel in a safe, convenient and environmentally-friendly way.” 

He continued: “Safety is our top priority, it dictates our e-scooter design and also the way we operate them. Our e-scooters are packed with a range of cutting-edge safety features and we know from experience in other cities that riders really appreciate this.”

Yeppoon is the fifth city in Queensland to operate Neuron e-scooters, joining Brisbane, Townsville, Bundaberg and Rockhampton who are already benefiting from the company’s industry-leading e-scooters, which have been purpose-built to a commercial grade, specifically for renting. 

Neuron e-scooters are set to be welcomed by local businesses following the recent launch of Neuron’s national report titled Shared Rides, Shared Wealth, which outlines the positive impact Neuron’s rental e-scooter programs are having on the cities they operate in across Australia.

According to the findings, each Neuron e-scooter contributes $70,000 to local economies per year, with riders spending an average of AUD $65 per trip. 

To encourage safety and familiarise residents of Yeppoon with the riding rules Neuron will be hosting a ‘ScootSafe’ event on Saturday 12, November at Yeppoon Amphitheater from 10am where Safety Ambassadors will be assisting new riders with signing up on Neuron’s user-friendly app, and educating riders on how to park and ride responsibly.

Participants who complete the ‘ScootSafe’ briefings will be rewarded with free e-scooter credits for future rides. 

Safety-first approach 

Neuron’s safety-first e-scooters have a full suite of measures to promote safe and responsible riding.  

• Safe, stable and sustainable design: Neuron’s e-scooters are visibly bigger and more robust than other e-scooters, they are designed in-house and manufactured specifically for safety and sharing. They have larger (11.5”) wheels and wider (8.3”) footplates for increased stability and rider experience, giving riders extra confidence. They are fitted with swappable batteries for more sustainable operations.
• Advanced geofencing technology: All e-scooters are GPS-connected and managed by geofencing technology to control where they can be ridden and parked and how fast they can travel in certain areas. For example speeds are limited to 12km/h in highly populated places such as Yeppoon town centre and the Yeppoon Lagoon precinct.
• World-first Helmet Lock: The e-scooters feature the world’s first app-controlled Helmet Lock which secures a safety helmet to every e-scooter, electronically releasing it to use at the start of the booking. Neuron also incentivises helmet wearing with a  $0.50 credit to those who take a ‘helmet selfie’ before starting their trip.
• Voice Guidance: Riders will benefit from Voice Guidance to educate them how to travel and park safely. They also provide riders with the very best safety education through in-app messaging, in person ScootSafe events and the company’s new safety platform ScootSafe Academy, aimed at educating riders with bespoke incentivised training modules so they know how to use our vehicles in a safe and responsible way.

Topple detection, 000 Emergency Button, and “Follow my Ride”

• E-scooters have a topple detection feature which alerts Neuron’s operations team if one has been left on its side so it can quickly be repositioned safely.  A 000 Emergency Button feature can detect if a rider has had a fall and help call emergency services.

• The “Follow My Ride” feature allows riders to share their trip online with friends and family in real-time for added safety and peace of mind. 

• Rider Education and Insurance: Neuron drives the industry forward when it comes to safety. The company’s ScootSafe Academy, is an industry-first interactive, online riding school developed in consultation with the Australian Road Safety Foundation. It gamifies rider education with city-specific materials on the importance of safety, and also delivers targeted training modules to riders who have broken the rules. Neuron was also the first micormobility operator in Australia to implement third party rider liability insurance for e-scooters, in a move to protect and reassure riders, and the wider community. 

Riders can unlock and use the e-scooters through Neuron’s user-friendly app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play and set up in a matter of minutes. Standard single trips will cost $1 to unlock the e-scooter and 45 cents per minute thereafter. More frequent users have the option to purchase Neuron Passes, allowing users to ride as many times as they want for up to 90 minutes per day for as little as $3.30 a day, with no additional unlocking fee.

Important riding rules and safety tips for Queensland:

• Neuron riders must be 16 years old and above
• Only one rider allowed per e-scooter, no tandem riding with children
• Wearing a helmet is mandatory, there is one on every e-scooter 
• Do not ride under the influence of alcohol or any other substance
• E-scooters can be ridden on footpaths and shared paths at a speed of 12km/h, unless signed otherwise
• E-scooters can also be ridden in bike lanes on roads with a speed limit of 50km/h or less, on-road bike lanes that are physically separated
• E-scooter can be ridden on low-speed roads with a speed limit less than 50km/h and no dividing line
• E-scooters cannot be ridden in bike lanes on roads over 50km/h
• Maintain a safe distance between riders and pedestrians 
• Give way to pedestrians and mobility devices (such as wheelchairs) at all times
• Park responsibly, don’t obstruct access areas, don’t park too close to a junction