Hire e-scooters will be banned from Melbourne's CBD after the City of Melbourne moved to cancel its contracts with operators Lime and Neuron.

“Safety remains our number one priority,” Lord Mayor Nick Reece said after the decision last week. “E-scooters are thrown across our footpaths, parks and public spaces, creating trip hazards.

“Residents, visitors and traders have had enough.”  

Cr Reece says the share scheme has left Melburnians “constantly jeopardised” by riders on footpaths, “double-dinking” and people riding without helmets or while affected by alcohol and drugs.

City of Melbourne was one of three municipalities participating in the Victorian government’s shared e-scooter trial from early 2022, alongside City of Port Phillip and City of Yarra.

The state government made the scheme permanent last month, handing authority to individual councils.

City of Melbourne says providers must now stop operations in its area, which includes the CBD, Southbank and Carlton, by September 18.

Cr Reece says while the e-scooter scheme has been popular in Melbourne, there have been “serious issues”.

Two years of trials has been “more than enough time” for providers to make necessary improvements, but “we have not seen results”, he says.  

“We will continue to encourage our community to take up active forms of transport.”

Private e-scooters are still permitted, as are share scheme e-bikes.

In November, the Australian Lawyers Alliance called for a review of insurance and regulation for e-scooters and a system ensuring those who hire them have appropriate cover. E-scooter hire companies should be required to offer high-level insurance protecting riders and any injured party, the alliance said. Existing arrangements were “entirely unsatisfactory”.