Tighter rules for second, longer Auckland e-scooter trial

A second e-scooter trial in Auckland will be stricter than the first.

Companies Lime and Wave have been granted a seven-month licence to operate in the city, which begins on Monday.

Auckland Transport chief executive Shane Ellison says they'll be keeping a close eye, after Lime's controversial first few months.

"We are looking to making changes around conditions, which includes enhanced reporting requirements," he told Newshub.

Ellison says they're interested to see whether the scooters are as popular over winter.

"We'll be interested to see what usage is like over that period - when it's raining, will they be as popular?

"We'll continue to monitor things like trip data - we'll see how it performs over winter, for example. We'll see how things evolve in terms of the number of operators… the number of scooters."

Requirements for incident and maintenance reporting have also tightened. Lime's first trial saw dozens injured, and the scooters were taken off the streets so the company could fix a serious braking flaw.

An interim licence will apply until April 12, when the new terms kick in. It will run until October 31.

"E-scooters are proving very popular as a new mode [of transport] and we are already seeing benefits," said Ellison.

"They give people more choice for shorter journeys and for the first and last leg of their public transport trips. The benefits also need to be balanced with the safety of everyone on our footpaths."

Newshub.