City of Rockingham and Beam partnership to reduce carbon emissions with e-scooters

Rockingham residents will soon be zipping around town on sustainable wheels after the city released its first fleet of e-scooters on Thursday.

The city has partnered with micromobility company Beam to bring 200 e-scooters to Rockingham after starting operations in Bunbury and Esperance.

The app-based service is integrated with Google Maps for easy navigation and enables riders to pay-as-they-go when renting out scooters.

Scooters will be available for hire across the city, including Rockingham Visitor Centre, Rockingham Arts Centre, CBD, Safety Bay, Palm Beach Jetty and Rockingham Aquatic Centre.

Beam is a Certified Climate Neutral company, meaning all trips on Rockingham’s new e-scooters will be carbon-free and not contribute to the City’s carbon emissions.

Beam general manager (Australia and New Zealand) Tom Cooper said the potential for micromobility to address climate change was “enormous”.

“Since transport emissions can account for up to 25 per cent of global and national emissions, the impact of switching to e-scooters and e-bikes for shorter trips will significantly reduce transport emissions for any city that adopts it,” he said.

“Commuting — both to work and for study — is one of the highest use cases of e-scooters in cities, as is enabling first and last mile transport. We expect the e-scooters to contribute positively to Rockingham’s multi-modal transport network and turn short car trips into eco-friendly rides.”

Beam will share its data on kilometres travelled with the City of Rockingham, enabling it to track the environmental impact of having e-scooters in the area.

The introduction of the fleet is also set to increase economic activity through the ‘Beam Booster’ platform, which combines in-app notifications and partner incentives to draw users to nearby businesses.

Mr Cooper said Beam Booster promoted businesses at the community level.

“Beam Booster is a community program designed to assist local shops, restaurants and cafes in the cities where we operate,” he said.

“Local businesses can apply for a free Beam parking spot in front of their business, with Beam promoting their business in-app to drive organic traffic to their storefront.”

Rockingham mayor Deb Hamblin said the City was proud to be a “small business-friendly local government” committed to driving tourism and economic growth.

“The activation and development of the City’s coastal areas is an important part of our Tourist Destination Strategy 2019-2024 and the arrival of e-scooters will make it easier for tourists to visit 14 locations, including the Rockingham Foreshore, Mersey Point and Penguin Island, local shopping centres and several city facilities,” Ms Hamblin said.

Applications for Beam Booster are now open for Rockingham businesses, who can sign up at ridebeam.com/anz/booster.