Beam’s e-scooter service is ready to enhance the personal mobility experience of city dwellers, writes Izwan Ismail
IF you’re in areas like Mont Kiara, Lot 10 or Bukit Bintang and would like to get to a nearby spot, e-scooters are now an option.
Provided by Beam, a Singapore-based startup, the e-scooter service is set to bring innovation to the personal mobility sharing space in Kuala Lumpur.
The service is seen as a new way that people move around Asian cities as an alternative transportation choice.
Some 200 e-scooters have been deployed to these locations for the public to use.
Beam is focused on being an Asia-Pacific first platform by concentrating on safe, powerful and efficient pedestrian-friendly transportation for the community.
According to the company’s vice president (corporate affairs) Christopher Hilton, the e-scooter service is designed to give city dwellers an easy and faster way to get to short distance points, normally between 400 metres and 2km, which is too far to walk but too close by to use a taxi or drive.
Such a service, which is popular in the West, will offer more choices to the public.
“The pedestrian route at these locations are good enough for e-scooters to operate,” says Hilton.
Beam is in discussions with Kuala Lumpur City Hall on expanding the e-scooter service to areas such as KLCC.
“We’re also actively in talks with shopping malls, office buildings, Prasarana and SMEs to create parking space for the e-scooters.”
Beam recognises that it has an obligation to all commuters and pedestrians. “Given that our e-scooters will be in the public space, we will actively engage with regulators, businesses, commuters and residents to ensure that the scooters are well-integrated into the physical shared spaces.”
THE RIDE
It may take a couple of tries before one can comfortably ride the e-scooters, which are activated via the Beam app.
Users are charged RM2.50 to unlock the e-scooter and RM0.30 per every minute ride.
On average, according to Hilton, every rider commutes between 500 metres and 2km, which takes between four and 17 minutes.
“Even though the scooter has a top speed of 30km/h, we have capped operation speed at 20km/h, which is four times faster than the average walking speed,” he says, adding that the e-scooter can travel up to 60km per charge.
“The scooter will be out of service if its battery is less that 30 per cent. Our service team will then come to get it charged.”
Beam e-scooters have been made available for a couple of months already. To date, 15,000 rides have been recorded with 10,000 app downloads.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
At the forefront of Beam’s vision to change the way people move is that safety is paramount.
“Safety is more than ensuring a rider has a functioning vehicle that meets safety requirements. A safe Beam ride ensures every person using a Beam considers the environment, operates his vehicle under control and utilises shared space within the rules,” says Hilton.
Beam will work with cities to implement smart safety regulations and support the creation of infrastructure that promotes and enhances transportation options for electric vehicles.
Each e-scooter is monitored real-time using Geofence (control dashboard) which allows the operations team to add and remove operating geofences within a city.
An operating geofence is a virtual border that enables the operation of the vehicles within set boundaries.
Beam is able to define multiple operating geofences and add locations identified by the municipal council where they can change operating conditions of the e-scooters to fit the needs of the community.
The Geofence enables detection of breaches with user notifications - penalising unsafe vehicle use. It also clearly delineates preferred parking zones and parking zone enforcement options.
It also allows safer onboarding for inexperienced new riders by limiting speeds.
There are also Beam parking incentives and features to reduce drunk scooting, vandalism as well as an alarm to prevent theft.
After Kuala Lumpur, Beam plans to expand its operations to Cyberjaya, Putrajaya, Penang, and Johor Baru.