Background – Ride Sharing of Lime’s Electronic-Scooters
In November 2018, hundreds of Lime electronic-scooters appeared in the Brisbane CBD, South Bank, West End and
Fortitude Valley. The company Lime initially rolled out up to 500 scooters. Since mid-November 2018 there has been
10,000 users and over 300,000 trips made.
Lime’s electric-powered scooters can travel at speeds of up to 25km/h, have a range of 20-60 kilometres per charge,
can be picked up and dropped off on footpaths throughout the central city and can be found and hired using a map
on a mobile app. This is instead of electronic-scooters being left at docking stations. Users can download a mobile
app, sign up quickly and unlock a scooter for only $1.00. These scooters are considered a low-cost alternative to
travel and produces low carbon emissions.
The Queensland Department of Transport and Roads, and the Brisbane City Council are among the first to allow the
trial of e-scooters in a central business district and are working with Lime on the roll-out.
Operations
Lime’s Brisbane-based operations team is supported by “juicers”. Juicers are “anybody in Brisbane (such as university
students, retirees, mums, dads etc.), who are able to pick up a scooter in a car and charge them at home every
night”. Juicers are the outsourced workers hired by Lime to collect scooters before 10pm each evening, recharge
them overnight, and place them at strategic locations across the city for the morning.
The community of riders and juicers have been integral to the success of the scheme in Brisbane. Over 150 juicers
have been earning extra money by collecting and charging scooters with more than $700,000 paid out to juicers.
The electronic-scooters have GPS, anti-tilt features and are supported by a 24-hour support service, made possible
by “juicers and the local operations team”. This team ensures that the streets are clear at night, preventing scooters
from ending up being stolen or dump in rivers and other waste areas.
The operation is made available via the Lime mobile application. The mobile app alerts users if they have parked in a
no-parking zone outside a “geofenced” area in the inner-city. Users must be 16 years of age to rider the scooters, or
12 years of age with adult supervision. All users must wear a helmet, must not drink alcohol or use a mobile phone
while riding. Users who repeatedly park in “no-parking zones”, will have their accounts suspended or may face fines.
Risk to Public Safety
While the e-scooter share schemes are popular, there are concerning reports that a large number of people were
going to hospital emergency departments, due to injuries to both e-scooter riders and pedestrians.
A Queensland University of Technology (QUT) study of electronic scooter riding in central Brisbane found nearly half
of shared e-scooters were being ridden illegally. This study counted passing e-scooters and bicycles at six locations
around central Brisbane for six hours a day over 4 days. Out of a total observation of 785 e-scooters, 90 per cent
were Lime shared scooters and 10 percent were private scooters. Of the e-scooters observed during the four days,
45 per cent were being ridden illegally because either the rider was riding on the road, carrying a passenger, or not
wearing a helmet properly. The most common illegal behaviour by people riding shared e-scooters related to the use
of helmets, with 39 per cent of observed riders either having no helmet or wearing a helmet inappropriately. This
study identified a need to ensure that helmets were available for shared e-scooter riders and called for further
research into whether bicycle helmet standards are adequate for e-scooters.
The research study identified a clear difference in safety practices between people who rode private e-scooters and
those who rode scooters from a sharing scheme. The study found that 60 per cent of riders of shared e-scooter
schemes wore a helmet correctly during their ride, compared with more than 95 per cent of riders of private escooters.
Trail and Observation of Users
Observations over the last couple of months suggest user behaviour has changed. Some unruly behaviour in the first
few days has given way to new social norms:
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• Parking behaviour is improving.
• Riders cannot lock the scooter (and stop paying for it) in locations where it might cause a nuisance, such as
on the main green bridges.
• Riders are both encouraged to park out of harm’s way and forced to submit a photograph of their parking
attempt. Multiple attempts to park poorly will suspend your account.
Lime encourages e-scooter sharing systems that can be transformative for people’s travel.
Lime’s second-generation scooters have the ability to operate at two different speeds and have geo-locking
technology to stop the scooters being used in high pedestrian areas designated by the operators.
Lime plans to roll out third-generation scooters in late 2019, with the capability for Lime to send warning messages
to the scooter’s screens if they are being ridden dangerously.
Opportunities for Mobility Service Providers and Platforms
Digital mobility providers, such as ride-hailing, car-sharing, and car-rental services, need to act promptly to
determine their e-scooter strategies. These digital mobility providers should decide whether, and how, to integrate
existing e-scooter-sharing services, or whether to merge with an existing provider. Partnerships, including those with
public transport agencies, will be key so that consumers can plan, book, and pay for multi-modal trips.
E-scooter rides can complement other modes of transportation, especially public transport. Hence, an ability to
integrate multiple modes of transport using a single app would be more convenient and valuable for consumers. The
user could then use a single app for getting from point A to point B, and a one-stop shop for planning, booking, and
paying for their trips. Uber is advancing fast in its bid to become such a multi-modal mobility provider. In 2018, it
acquired JUMP, a dock-less bike-sharing and e-scooter-sharing startup. Get around to integrate car rental into its
app; and announced a pilot with the city of Denver to offer tickets for public transport.
A number of European cities are developing their own on-demand mobility offerings that integrate public transport
with bike sharing, car sharing, and other mobility options. With their established customer bases, public transport
agencies are well positioned to act as a central or hub provider. Many already offer their own ticketing apps, but the
extent consumers will opt for a local municipal offering over a potentially more alluring regional or even global ones
is still unknown.
Permits and Data Requirements
State and local governments need to determine what requirements to set for e-scooter providers and how restrictive
potential licensing mechanisms should be. To enable better future regulation, governments might make data-sharing
agreements a condition towards issuing permits / approvals.
A key issue is whether the use of e-scooters will gain traction or will the business crash and burn. Despite their
drawbacks, they have the potential to fill an important role in urban mobility at a time when solutions to congestion
and pollution are urgently needed. Consolidation will happen, culling many hopefuls from today’s crowded field, but
providers that get it right, anticipating and mitigating potential conflicts and seeking partnerships with cities and
other mobility platforms, could find them highly profitable. Cities that anticipate public concerns and needs by
testing, learning, and regulating wisely stand to gain in many ways, not least by making city centers more fun.
Lime E-scooters are not without some disadvantages.
• Because they are dock-less, they tend to litter footpaths, parks and even rivers and waste lands. This is
similar to the problems presented by dock-less share bikes. A number of dock-less bike share companies
have been forced to withdraw services in Australia because of this.
• Many communities lack appropriate means of regulating them. The question of whether e-scooters should
be allowed on footpaths or only on roads and bike paths remains unanswered. With a top speed of 24km/h,
e-scooters travelling on footpaths pose a safety concern.
E-scooter companies such as Lime face the following regulatory questions:
• permits (often awarded via tender)
• maximum fleet sizes
• vehicle regulations – especially maximum speeds
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• go/no-go zones
• parking controls
• high fees to pick up and impound scooters that operators fail to collect.
In response to regulations, by proactively developing policies for e-scooters, cities can ensure that the growth of this
promising transportation tool will align with, and help advance, their broader transportation goals of ensuring:
• Responsible growth in the number of scooters deployed based on actual usage
• Revenue sharing of $1.00 per scooter per day, with host cities for the purposes of building and maintaining
bike lanes and promoting safe riding.
• Successful application of an Uber idea, by which Lime pays for people to collect and charge the scooters each
night and redeploy the following day.
• Taxes can be an important mechanism for controlling e-scooter use and also as a source of income.
The Project
Skooder is a company that is proposing to operate e-scooters in key central locations within Melbourne (e.g.
Southbank). This company has previous experience of hiring electric scooters in Asian and European cities. However,
this is a new venture for Melbourne, and the company needs to conform to Victorian road regulations, as well as
Melbourne City Council’s regulations.
3rd Generation e-Scooters
Skooder operates commercial-grade scooters and uses real-time analytics to manage the deployment and use of its
scooters. The scooters are coloured with a distinctive yellow hue and have larger wheels and better stability than the
models used by other electronic scooter sharing providers. Skooders’ scooters are 3rd generation, specifically
designed for public mobility. Older scooters were considered toys or fun things to use on a weekend, but now the
technology is focused on city-wide transport solutions.
Geo-Fencing
Skooders’ scooters will come with automated “geo-fencing” that automatically prevents them from being ridden in
areas outside of the Melbourne CBD, or in breach of the rules below. In addition to geo-fencing, Skooders scooters
can:
• Limit the speed of a scooter in an area where speed may be a danger to pedestrians;
• Impose a fine on a rider who breaches any of the rules below, such as travelling more than 50m on an open
road;
• Randomly take photos of the rider to detect if they are not wearing an approved helmet. Photos can also be
taken from buildings at key points around the city to also detect riders without approved helmets, and
engaging in other inappropriate behaviour;
• Generate an alarm to the central control when the battery charge falls below 5% of capacity and notify the
rider that they need to find a recharging station.
The operators at the Skooders control hub have the ability to remotely stop and disable an e-scooter that they
detect is being used inappropriately, or in violation of the rules below. A riders’ details and relevant evidence may be
referred to Victorian Police if a traffic or other offence by that rider is detected.
VicRoads is working in partnership with Melbourne City Council to introduce e-scooters in key locations around the
city. The project is in the initial stages with ride share electronic-scooter vendor Skooders being considered in an
initial six-month trial. VicRoads and Melbourne City Council have asked Skooders, a ride sharing company to create
project charter and risk assessment of conducting a six month trial of e-scooters in the centre of Melbourne. They
would like to trial e-scooters in Melbourne in Oct 2020.
Assume that your team are required to assess the information that has been provided to you and write up (1) a
project Charter and (2) conduct a risk assessment of this project. The Charter and the project risk assessment plan
should be directed to VicRoads as well as the Melbourne City Council, based on this initial time point in the
project. Your team’s documentation will be reviewed by the CEO of Skooders and will then be shared in a
project plan and risk management plan to VicRoads and Melbourne City Council. This primary documentation and
assessment will be a two-phase process, of which is detailed below. Students are encouraged to read more
widely in regard to riding sharing projects, initiatives and trials include Uber, Lime e-scooters, Neon e-scooters
and other ride sharing and licensing schemes.
Part One: Project Charter of a six-month E-Scooter Trial in Melbourne [20%]
Create a project charter which presents how Skooders’ will roll out a 6-month e-scooter trial in the centre of
Melbourne. Additional infrastructure is needed in Melbourne for the e-scooters to be operational (e.g. recharging
stations, management of rider behavior. The project start time is ϭst September 2019. The budget allocated for
the project is $500,000.
Note that this project charter will be presented to the CEO of Skooders, as also requested by the City of Melbourne
and VicRoads for consideration. Therefore, ensure the document is clear and concise. Use the template that is
provided to complete the Project Charter.
Due: Tuesday 3rd September 10.00Ɖŵ (Week 6)
Part Two: Assessment of Risk of the E-Scooter Trial in Melbourne
Responding to Phase 1 and 2 should form the primary logic and presentation of your group’s project risk assessment.
Risk Identification and Assessment [30%]
1-1. Risk Identification and Categorisation – For the context provided, describe the categories of risk. Why
are they relevant? Which categories of risks are likely to be significant for this project? For each category of
risk, identify as many specific risks as possible. Include each risk into a risk register. Note that over the life of
the project, the risk register maybe reviewed and updated by the project team. [15%]
Ensure risks are written in simple, precise and succinct jargon-free language and directed to Skooders
and their relevant stakeholders. You must follow the structure provided in the lecture on how to write your
risk statements.
1-2 Risk Assessment ͲExplain how you plan to assess and estimate probability and impact of each potential
risk. The ratings of likelihood and impact of risks will determine the current grading for each risk that in turn
provides a measure of the project risk exposure.
Summarize the frequency and distribution of risks according to the grading of risks? And, explain how the
identified risks could potentially affect or influence the success of the six-month trail (project). Justify your
reasoning behind the relative probabilities and impacts estimates assigned to the top 10 risks as ranked.
These top ten risks may span across multiple categories of risk. [15%]
Risk Mitigation and Response Strategies [35%]
2-1. What risk response strategy might there be to address each risk? What risk indicators (triggers) can be
identified? What mitigation actions and contingency plans might you put in place? Also, tell us how often the
project steering committee and project sponsor will be provided with an updated Risk Register for ƌĞǀŝĞǁ͘2ϱй
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2-2. Create a risk register from your risk analysis above. Consolidate and priorities your list of risks according to
probability and impact. List these risks by priority in the Risk Register so Skooders can make an informed
assessment of the identified risks. Also provide a summary of the mitigation action(s) and contingency plan
in the risk register. Use the template provided to complete the risk register. [10%]
Sample Solution
