The purple scooters have arrived.
After four months reporting on Beam Mobility’s bid to settle in Queenstown, the e-scooters finally came and on Thursday, I finally emerged from behind my desk to try one out for myself.
I called it investigative journalism.
Getting started was easy enough — I downloaded the Beam app to see where exactly they were parked, followed simple instructions to set up my account and start my ride and, apart from struggling to take the scooter off its stand, I was off.
I travelled down Shotover St in Queenstown’s CBD, then down towards Fernhill along Lake Esplanade.
On Shotover St, as I was on the road, boy did I feel insecure.
No-one honked at me and I did not injure myself, but being one of the first in the area to subject myself to such a thing, I sensed curiosity and judgement.
With groups of tourists blocking the way every 10 seconds, passing and navigating became harder, but was helped by the shrill bell (and my awkward "excuse me, on your right") and I was impressed by the low-speed control.
There were a few niggly things, including my phone being far too big to fit in the holder, and I believe the majority of cellphones these days would have the same problem.
As I journeyed closer to Fernhill, I knew the no-ride zone began eventually and decided to test the scooter’s stopping ability.
When I reached such zone, it powered off within a couple of seconds, but the real struggle was turning around and pushing this extremely heavy scooter back into the right area.
All in all, the experience was a mix of emotions — fun, and great for avoiding walking, but I felt a little vulnerable both physically and mentally.
A huge fan of environmentally friendly transport options, I believe the e-scooter has a lot of potential, but given I live on a massive, steep hill in Beam’s no-ride zone and late-night workers cannot use it after 10pm to get home safely, there’s some room for improvement.
