Neuron Mobility has announced that the first of 250 e-bikes will be hitting the streets of Sydney on Thursday 14 April. They will be available to hire across Sydney CBD, Waverley and Randwick, including the popular tourist areas of Bondi and Coogee.
The launch will mark Neuron’s first location in New South Wales, and see the company grow its presence to every Australian capital city, with successful e-scooter operations running in Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Perth as well as 5 other Australian cities.
This wide-acceptance of micromobility in Australia signals an increased interest for e-scooters and e-bikes as they become an integral part of the transport mix. The Sydney operation will be supported by the creation of close to 20 new jobs which will be recruited locally.
The e-bikes will provide locals and tourists with a safe, convenient and socially-distanced way to get around the city, with riders able to travel using dedicated bike lanes, and low speed roads. They will also provide riders with greater access to sustainable transport options, reducing the reliance on cars for short journeys.
We are delighted to be working with the City of Sydney, Waverley and Randwick councils to launch our new e-bike programme. We hope the introduction of e-bikes will make micromobility even more accessible to residents and tourists in Sydney. They will provide another sustainable mode of transport, making them a great alternative to short car trips.
This is a particularly exciting launch for us as it marks our presence in every capital city around Australia. Elsewhere in Australia, our rider research shows that Neuron’s e-bikes and e-scooters are providing benefits to the cities where they operate. Forty-five per cent of rides have replaced a car trip, reducing emissions and congestion in cities, and on average 85 per cent of users believe Neuron has created a positive impact for the city.”
E-bikes encourage more people to get out and support small businesses including cafes and restaurants, providing a welcome boost for the local economy. They also extend people’s range, allowing them to see more, do more and spend more. On average we see seven out of 10 trips resulting in a purchase.
Richard Hannah, Head of ANZ, Neuron Mobility
To help riders to better plan their journeys across different modes of transport, Neuron e-bikes will be integrated with Google Maps. The service highlights a user’s nearest e-bike, directions and information on how long it will take them to reach it from their previous stop, calculates price estimates based on selected route, the battery range and expected arrival time at their destination.
After selecting a vehicle on the map, users will be redirected from Google Maps to the Neuron app for unlocking and payment. This will allow riders to easily locate their nearest e-bike, giving them better access to the convenient first and last-mile transport option.
Neuron will make e-bike services accessible to low-income users by offering a Concession Pass for those eligible via various government support programs, the discounted pass provides up to 50% off Weekly Pass and Monthly Passes.
Neuron’s GPS-connected e-bikes are geofenced to control where they can be ridden and parked and how fast they can travel in certain areas. There are a large number of convenient incentivised parking stations across the operating area for the e-bikes.
Neuron is a company well-known for its focus on safety and the new e-bikes are fitted with the same cutting-edge safety features brought over from the company’s e-scooters. These include an app-controlled helmet lock that secures a safety helmet to the e-bike between trips; and a topple detection feature that can detect if an e-bike has been left on its side, which then alerts an operations team to reposition it safely.
Other innovations include a 000 emergency button which can tell if someone has had a fall and helps the rider call the emergency services. Voice guidance will be fitted to educate and warn riders of how to ride safely. The e-bikes will also feature a ‘Follow My Ride’ function that allows riders to share their trip with friends and family in real time, for added safety and peace of mind.
Riders will be able to book and use the e-bikes through Neuron’s user-friendly app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play and set up in a matter of minutes. Single trips will cost $1 to unlock the e-bike and 45 cents per minute thereafter.
More frequent users have the option to purchase Neuron Passes, allowing users to ride as many times as they want for up to 90 minutes per day for as little as $3.30 a day, with no additional unlocking fee. Neuron Passes are available in one-day (AU$15) three-day (AU$25), weekly (AU$33), or monthly (AU$99) options.
