Page 725 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 5 April 2022
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making the switch, and we have to do everything we can to make that transition a bit smoother.
Minister Steel’s bill addresses this problem. He has introduced penalties where a petrol or diesel car ICEs a designated EV charging station. I am really happy to see that. A lot of cities have not made those sorts of changes yet. It is good that we are moving ahead in the ACT and keeping on the front foot. The Greens are really happy to support this bill.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee—Minister for Skills, Minister for Transport and City Services and Special Minister of State) (11.27), in reply: I am pleased to conclude the debate on the Transport Legislation Amendment Bill (No 2). The bill continues our focus on working towards Vision Zero by delivering the initiatives outlined in the ACT Road Safety Action Plan 2020-2023. It supports and builds on the Road Transport Legislation Amendment Bill (No 1), which was debated and passed by the Assembly last month.
The Road Transport Legislation Amendment Bill (No 1) improved road safety by strengthening the territory’s regulatory and enforcement framework for dangerous driving and other unsafe behaviours on the territory’s road network. The bill we are debating today builds on these amendments and ensures that road safety laws keep pace with changing technology, by introducing new penalties for using e-scooters and other vehicles while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
As new forms of transport like e-scooters grow in popularity, we want to ensure that everyone uses them safely to protect riders and others who use our roads and paths. These new laws will address a gap in our current drug and alcohol legislation, targeting unsafe drink-riding on footpaths, shared paths, verges and other road-related spaces.
These amendments are particularly important and timely because the government is in the process of expanding the availability of Canberra’s shared e-scooter scheme across the city. Earlier this week, I was pleased to announce that Canberrans can now ride an e-scooter from Belconnen to the city through the shared paths over Bruce Ridge, as the initial shared e-scooter zones have now been connected up. This is the first step towards a city-wide expansion of this new transport technology, as we work to make shared e-scooters available to all Canberrans by the end of the year.
Shared e-scooters are proving to be great for short trips, as well as for longer commutes when combined with things like public transport. The expansion follows feedback from the community that e-scooters provide another useful transport option, and Canberrans would like to see them available more widely across the city. Through the 2021 review of the shared e-scooter scheme, the ACT government also heard clear feedback that new rules and frameworks are needed to promote safe and courteous use of the devices. This has informed our work both on the road transport bill passed last month and on the one that we are debating here today.
The Road Transport Legislation Amendment Bill (No 1) gave police a new power to direct a person to get off, or not get on, a personal mobility device like an e-scooter, a
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