Five rival electric scooter operators for NZ as 800 wheeled out in Wellington

Flamingo and the Uber-owned Jump launch in the capital today, with the city becoming New Zealand’s fifth to see shareable e-scooters  Eight months after the invasion of the Limes scandalised the previously 100% safe streets of Auckland, Wellington is to get its first taste of electric scooters, with two rival providers having received permits from … Read more

City of snails: Auckland’s traffic is worse than Sydney’s

A report commissioned by Uber says Auckland wins Australasia’s traffic congestion Grand Prix and needs to embrace ‘point-to-point’ transport.  It’s official: Auckland is the most congested city in Australasia, according to Uber. It hired international management consultancy Boston Consulting Group to look at transport in the region’s major cities and what role ridesharing services such … Read more

Why disabled people are cheering the Lime ban

In the debate about the safety of Lime e-scooters, one voice has been largely unheard – that of the disabled community, which has had serious concerns from the start, writes Chris Ford. As a disability-rights and pedestrian-rights activist, I applaud both my own Dunedin City Council and the Auckland City Council for their decisions to … Read more

The Bulletin: Public health pitch with new rental standards

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Public health pitch in new rental standards, serious concerns raised about Man Up programme, and National puts out new ideas on the environment.  A major overhaul in rental standards has been announced, a step towards fulfilling an important campaign promise from the Labour led government. We’ve got … Read more

The Bulletin: British politics implodes with defections left and right

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: More defections shake British politics, massive hole in NZ’s biosecurity defences revealed, and Privacy Commissioner makes intervention in self-ID debate. We’re going international today, because there have been hugely significant developments in British politics overnight. The established party system in Britain is imploding, with MPs from both … Read more

A 10km/h footpath speed limit will limit more than Lime scooters

A proposed 10km/h speed limit on footpaths won’t just be slowing e-scooters down, writes Madeleine Chapman. Sometimes we idiots need to be saved from ourselves. We get given a nice thing and we ruin it. The nice thing (not even that nice, if I’m honest) was Lime scooters. The ruining was everyone crashing them immediately. … Read more

Rice cookers and robot vacuums: a visit to NZ’s first Mi store

Demand for its e-scooters has been rabid since opening its first New Zealand store two weeks ago. But it turns out, Chinese electronics retailer Mi sells a whole lot more than just tiny modes of transport. For just $679, you could own your very own Lime. Well, not a Lime exactly, but an e-scooter of … Read more

Where should Lime scooters go? On The Little Road, of course

The answer to the Lime scooter/pedestrian conflict is right in front of us, says Jessica Rose of the group Women in Urbanism. A confession: I didn’t think Lime scooters would take off when they appeared on our streets overnight. Now I believe Limes could be the transport tool the people of this city both need … Read more

Why are Lime scooting around the question of whether they’re paying GST?

Tax law makes it pretty clear: services being provided in New Zealand attract goods and services tax. So why can’t the US electric scooter ride share phenomenon clarify whether it’s collecting it? Update 22 November: For Lime’s response to this story, see the comments at the the bottom of the page. As Hayden Donnell wrote … Read more