In December 2023, overwhelming public consultation support pushed e-scooters and other personal mobility devices a step closer to becoming legal to use on South Australia’s roads, paths and bike tracks.

Of the nearly 2000 participants in the survey, 87 per cent supported the ongoing use of e-scooters on public roads and paths and the responses indicated broad support for e-scooter use across shared paths, bicycle paths, bike lanes and footpaths.

About half of the survey participants already use fleet e-scooters which are allowed under trial conditions. And 45 per cent expressed their intent to purchase a PMD immediately if their use in public was permitted. This underscores the growing demand for alternative transportation modes in urban areas.

Currently, only rental e-scooters are permitted in SA, as they are in NSW and the Northern Territory. They are fully legal Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. It is time SA switched columns and joined the list of states that encourage more and better active transport opportunities and less of a single-minded reliance on the motor vehicle.

Such a move as e-scooter legislation has profound implications to active transport and therefore to cycling in this state and, hopefully, to a broader nationwide discussion.

The most immediate benefit, particularly when legislation is finalised and comes before the Parliament, is an increased public focus and discussion on active transport and its benefits to all transport network users as well as the entire community in terms of health and wellbeing, reduced health costs and pollution reduction.

This, alone, is a significant opportunity and one the active transport community must exploit to its fullest effect. Silence and indifference are the most effective tools to make sure the marginalised remain marginalised, especially when the status quo is so ingrained as our transport policy has become.

We must and will use this public discussion to shine a spotlight on active transport and its widespread benefits.

We must and will use this public discussion to shine a spotlight on active transport and its widespread benefits. Part of the success of that ambition can be determined by you, our members, readers, friends and cycling enthusiasts. All of our public discussions are posted to our social media pages – Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Linkedin. Likes are good on all of these platforms but comments and shares are the way to make campaigns go viral. They are free, easy and quick and can make a tremendous difference to our work. Make your 2024 resolution to schedule some of your social media time each day to go to Bike SA’s pages and help spread the word.

The motor vehicle industry has gone to great lengths to tout the electric car as the solution to all our pollution problems. But be in no doubt: The electric car is here to save the car industry, not the planet. The answer to our pollution and congestion woes is not electric cars or self-driving cars but a far simpler cure – fewer cars.

Not by force, as the scaremongers will tell you. But by creating a transport environment, in terms of infrastructure, behaviour and public policy where all those who want to ride, walk or scoot face no barriers to doing so. Currently, barriers in our transport environment to all but the most confident of cyclists are far too significant and abundant.

Our roadways and pathways are meant to be shared spaces for all – we’ve been saying that to motorists for decades. So when the time comes, cyclists should practise what we preach and welcome scooter riders into cycle lanes, riding together with safety, courtesy and consideration and, in so doing, raise the bar for all road users to match.

More active transport makes us more numerous, more visible and strengthens our argument that motor vehicles must no longer be the one and only priority of transportation planners.

As Glam Adelaide said in its reporting on the surveys: “The results … and the ongoing discussions highlight a significant shift in public opinion towards more sustainable, efficient, and versatile modes of urban transportation. The integration of e-scooters and other PMDs into the transportation system of South Australia represents a forward-thinking approach to mobility, aligning with global trends and addressing the growing needs of urban dwellers for flexible and eco-friendly travel options.”

We owe it to ourselves, our community and the future to drive this forward thinking even further.

 This article first appeared in Bike SA’s Feb-Apr 2024 edition of Cycle Magazine.