The Lime e-scooter fleet in Christchurch is set to expand by 300 after a decision reached at a city council meeting today.
Lime scooters Photo: PHOTO / RNZ Colin Peacock
Councillors discussed a report about the Lime trial, written before a braking fault resulted in the e-scooters being temporarily pulled from Auckland and Dunedin streets.
The decision came after the Californian transport company Lime defended its scooters' safety record this morning, telling the Christchurch City Council they are absolutely safe.
The decision means Lime's scooter count in the city will increase to 1000.
It comes not long after other councils in New Zealand, including Auckland and Dunedin, pulled the scooters off their streets over a brake-locking issue.
Lime spokesperson, Hamish Ellis, told Christchurch City councillors this morning that safety problems had been sorted and people affected had been contacted.
"We also at a local level continue to remove any scooters that are broken or have negative customer service tickets," he said.
"We've increased our quality assurance checks and we've increased the number of staff that are actually conducting these...checks.
"We are continuing our commitment to provide a safe last mile transport solution to the people of Christchurch."
Lime said it had received 155 reports of random braking, some of which had resulted in broken bones, massive grazes, and bruises.
The report recommended Lime should keep operating in Christchurch for another 12 months, and be allowed to add another 300 scooters to its fleet.
A council survey found 75 percent of people thought the e-scooter trial had a positive or very positive effect on Christchurch.
