Beam scooters survive in Queenstown after Auckland ban

Beam e-scooters are being taken off the streets of Auckland after breaking rules set by the local council and lying about it, but in Queenstown the council is happy rules are being adhered to and the scooters will stay.

Auckland Council has cancelled the operator's licence after it was revealed the company attempted to cover up the fact it had many more scooters in public spaces than it should have.

A whistleblower tipped the council off to the issue.

However the Queenstown Council has no plans to follow suit.

Beam is a little more than halfway through a two-year trial in Queenstown, and a spokesperson for the council has confirmed the trial will continue - despite the company's misconduct in Auckland coming to light. 

The spokesperson says Beam's operation in Queenstown is different to elsewhere in the country in that the scooters are parked up on private properties and are not permitted to be left outside of these dedicated locations.

Because of this, the council receives no payment from the operator.

A memorandum of understanding between Beam and the council caps the number of permitted scooters in Queenstown at 400.

However, the spokesperson says there are fewer than 150 scooters available for now.

It is unclear if this figure has been supplied to the council by Beam or if the council's compliance team is monitoring operations, and Crux has sought clarification on this.

In a statement on Tuesday, Auckland Council’s manager of licensing and environmental health Mervyn Chetty calls Beam's behaviour there a "serious breach" of licence conditions.

“Limits on e-scooter numbers are in place for the safety of other road and footpath users and to minimise nuisance in and around our city.  

“It appears that Beam found a way to sidestep these requirements, which is very disappointing and has resulted in a loss of trust and confidence in the operator.  

“Beam has not provided a satisfactory response to our concerns, as such we have made the decision to cancel their licence, effective immediately."

Auckland Council has requested all vehicles be deactivated as of midnight Tuesday and off the streets by 5pm Friday.

Meanwhile, the two-year trial in Queenstown is due to finish in April.

"On completion, results of the trial will be evaluated with council to confirm how shared e-scooters and e-bikes can operate in the district going forward," the QLDC spokesperson says.

"We expect the evaluation of the trial will consider if e-scooters can be permitted on public land in the future, with associated permits and payment decided at that time."

Crux has approached Beam for comment.

So, where did things go wrong in Auckland?

In its statement yesterday, the Auckland Council documents how it was mislead by Beam.

The company's licence permits them to deploy up to 1,400 e-scooters across Auckland, with additional limits in specific areas.

To ensure compliance with these limits, Auckland Council monitors e-scooter deployment numbers through mobility management platform Ride Report. 

The council was provided with evidence of anomalies between the reported and actual number of Beam e-scooters operating in Auckland and other cities across Australasia by a concerned private individual on August 2.

The evidence suggests these anomalies were intentional, with Beam providing misleading data to Ride Report to appear compliant with limits, the council says.

The council has since undertaken its own investigation, including requesting further analysis by Ride Report, with resulting data received on August 18 consistent with the allegations and the council’s own findings.

Ride Report’s analysis indicates that between July 26, 2023 and August 15, 2024, Beam consistently exceeded their allowance by almost 40 percent in some locations.

Auckland Council has referred the matter to police.