Wollongong could see e-scooters on its streets - legally - as early as July.
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The state government has announced it will bring forward its trial of electric scooters and has invited councils to submit an expression of interest.
Active Transport Minister Rob Stokes said the trial would initially involve only share schemes - rather than private e-scooters - and technology would be used to control speeds and where devices could be parked to minimise clutter.
Wollongong City Council has long indicated its interest in e-scooters - in December 2020, it resolved to put itself forward to host any such trial, and support the legalisation and regulation of e-scooters, a position it reaffirmed at this month's meeting.
E-scooters are already widely used on the streets of Wollongong and the wider Illawarra, although in NSW they remain illegal off private property.
Councillor Cameron Walters brought the December 2020 motion and welcomed the latest announcement as a "really positive" move.
"We are the City of Innovation, we should be trialling these new innovative products," Cr Walters said.
He said e-scooters could prove beneficial to the city, with its spread-out population, by providing an intermediate transport option between cars and public transport.
Cr Walters said they could also attract tourists, noting that he used e-scooters to sight-see in Adelaide and they were easy and accessible.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the trial marked the beginning of the regulation of e-scooters, which was necessary.
"We need to have that tidied up," Cr Bradbery said.
He said that the creation of a regulatory framework would mean that people could be then encouraged to use e-scooters.
"It just adds to the mix of transport options," he said.
Wollongong MP Paul Scully said the same, adding that e-scooters could prove an especially important addition with the influx of visitors for the UCI Road World Championships in September.
"Wollongong council should be first in line putting its hand up," Mr Scully said.
Wollongong was already a bike city, he said, and had the existing cycleway infrastructure.
Mr Scully said it was in the interests of motorists, pedestrians and e-scooter users to have regulatory structures established and implemented.
The owner of Corrimal electric bicycle store Riding For Life, Andrew Larkham, told the Mercury last month that Wollongong was the "perfect place" to trial e-scooters because of its infrastructure.
Mr Stokes indicated that e-scooters could be sold for legal use on NSW streets before Christmas.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
