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Speaker 1: The City of Darwin have this morning announced there's another

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Speaker 1: company's been successful in securing the tender to provide e

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Speaker 1: scooters in the city over the next few years. Now

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Speaker 1: joining me in the studio to tell us a little

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Speaker 1: bit more about the situation is the CEO of the

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Speaker 1: City of Darwin, some own Saunders. Good morning to you

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Speaker 1: again morning, Katy, had you on yesterday, back again this morning.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, thanks for your time. And we've also got

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Speaker 1: Tom Cooper who is indeed the general manager for Beam Scooters.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you Tom.

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Speaker 1: Lovely to have you both in the studio now. Simone,

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Speaker 1: I know that the council embraced e scooters and e

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Speaker 1: bikes and a lot of Darwin has as well over

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Speaker 1: the last few years and you've had a bit of

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Speaker 1: a review as I understand it, and what we've wound

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Speaker 1: up with well is a new agreement this time with Beam.

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Speaker 3: Yes, so what we saw earlier this year, Council endorsed

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Speaker 3: for City of Darwin to go out to tender for

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Speaker 3: a permanent scooter provider for a two year period and

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Speaker 3: as part of the extensive EOI and tender process, after

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Speaker 3: the assessment of all the operational capacities, safety alignments with

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Speaker 3: our strategies and also needs of the community. I'm I'm

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Speaker 3: really happy to announce that Beam is going to be

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Speaker 3: operating in Darwin from the from the first of December.

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Speaker 1: And so what were the main reasons I guess for

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Speaker 1: moving away from Neuron and towards Beam.

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Speaker 3: The Neuron's been a fantastic provider for the last three

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Speaker 3: years in a trial here and in Darwen, and we

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Speaker 3: really thank them for you know, say, pioneering the micro

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Speaker 3: mobility culture in Darwin and getting a soul on board

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Speaker 3: not only for for locals but for tourism in the

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Speaker 3: city as well. But the assessment panel some of the

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Speaker 3: safety initiatives that that Beam has within their within their

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Speaker 3: scooter options, there's also a sit down scooter which allows

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Speaker 3: you potentially go longer distances and also yeah, more comfortable.

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Speaker 3: The other things that were really I guess the some

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Speaker 3: of the flexible options we've got, you know, different options

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Speaker 3: for hourly, weekly, monthly. There's also some concessions for certain

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Speaker 3: people and also seniors. We've been but overall they're operating

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Speaker 3: successfully in many places in Australia and we really welcome

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Speaker 3: them coming to the Territory.

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Speaker 1: So Tom tell us a little bit more about these

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Speaker 1: different options. I mean, the sit down scooter, is that

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Speaker 1: like a conventional scooter, a road scooter or how does

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Speaker 1: that work?

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Speaker 4: Absolutely? So it looks very similar to our normal scooters.

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Speaker 4: So we'll be launching five hundred standard L shaped scooters,

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Speaker 4: one hundred and fifty bikes and one hundred of the

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Speaker 4: seated e scooters. They look very similar. It's just they've

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Speaker 4: got a nice cushioned seat. And we've introduced these in

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Speaker 4: Queensland and Western Australia and what we're seeing is that

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Speaker 4: people that are using them are taking thirty percent longer

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Speaker 4: trips and that's something that we really want to encourage

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Speaker 4: as people to leave the car at home and take

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Speaker 4: this form of transport.

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Speaker 1: Yeah right, and so you obviously operate in lots of

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Speaker 1: other locations around Australia.

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Speaker 2: How many locations, So we're in.

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Speaker 4: Thirty seven cities now across Australia and New Zealand, where

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Speaker 4: in every state and territory except Northern Territory. And so

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Speaker 4: we're really excited to become coming to the Northern Territory now.

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Speaker 1: And what other kind of safety features and that type

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Speaker 1: of thing do you offer this different maybe to what

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Speaker 1: we've traditionally seen.

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Speaker 4: So one of the things that we're going to be

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Speaker 4: introducing is a drink writing deterrent test be turned on

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Speaker 4: at certain times of the day and certain days of

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Speaker 4: the week in certain locations, I should say, and people

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Speaker 4: have to complete that before they can start their trip,

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Speaker 4: and we hope that this just deters people from drink writing.

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Speaker 2: I reckon it's a good idea.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we've seen some shock un stacks on the

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Speaker 1: scooters over different areas, so I do think that it

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Speaker 1: is a good idea. I mean, someone is that part

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Speaker 1: of the reason why we've had the change over here.

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Speaker 3: Look, I think I think it's one enhancement. But there's

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Speaker 3: also some great, really precise geo fencing technology that Beam

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Speaker 3: has within the scooters. As Tom said to me, they

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Speaker 3: don't use GPS. And then there's some you know facility

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Speaker 3: function sorry that say whether you're on the road, whether

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Speaker 3: you're on a path, which is which is really great,

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Speaker 3: and also being able to geo fence to precise locations

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Speaker 3: if you're on a shared path throughout the municipality. And

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Speaker 3: what it gives us is that the opportunity in the future,

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Speaker 3: So if the community would like to see that in

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Speaker 3: council to expand you know, microability to move us more broadly,

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Speaker 3: you know, maybe maybe three to Casualina Airport and other

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Speaker 3: locations within the municipality, which would be great to see.

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Speaker 1: I had wondered that with the sit down scooters, how

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Speaker 1: far are they going to be able to go?

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Speaker 4: So currently we'll be operating in the same geo fens

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Speaker 4: as is operational, but over time we hope to expand

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Speaker 4: that so that more people can can use the vehicles.

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Speaker 1: Is it going to be a real sort of you know,

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Speaker 1: a territory is going to be able to see anything

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Speaker 1: really different with you guys, we've been comparatively to what

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Speaker 1: they'd seen before. I think the color of the scooters

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Speaker 1: are different for a start, aren't they.

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Speaker 4: Yes, so we're purple, and I think people will just notice.

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Speaker 4: You know, we've we've got some really fantastic hardware. We

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Speaker 4: know that micro ability has been successful in the City

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Speaker 4: of Darwin, and we think now it's the perfect time

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Speaker 4: to introduce some new hardware and some new technology to

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Speaker 4: take the program forward. And as Simone mentioned, the Council's

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Speaker 4: got some really exciting goals for twenty thirty, and we

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Speaker 4: hope to help them reach those targets.

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Speaker 2: So when does it all change over?

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Speaker 4: So the first of December will be kicking off.

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Speaker 2: First of December.

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Speaker 1: And is someone is there a sort of is there

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Speaker 1: a lag over period or does it just kind of

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Speaker 1: when does Neuron finish up?

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Speaker 3: So Neuron finishes on the thirtieth of November. That's the

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Speaker 3: last day for them to be operating, so it will

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Speaker 3: be a straight cutover. And I'm sure that Neuron and

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Speaker 3: Beam will work together in the transition over those couple

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Speaker 3: of days.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's exciting times, no doubt about that. And Tom,

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Speaker 1: you sound like you're pumped to be operating in the territory.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely we are. And you know, we please put

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Speaker 4: the call out. If people are interested in working for Beam,

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Speaker 4: then please reach out. You know, we'd love to welcome

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Speaker 4: them into our community.

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Speaker 2: Do you need quite a few staff or how many staff.

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Speaker 4: Are you going to We're looking to hire up to

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Speaker 4: seventy people. There's been a mixture of jobs and so

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Speaker 4: please reach out and make contacts.

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Speaker 2: So a bit of opportunity for territorianes. What kind of

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Speaker 2: roles do you need people for? I mean seventy jobs.

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Speaker 2: Sounds like quite a lot.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So we have mechanics people that change the batteries on

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Speaker 4: the street, operational roles, So there's a number of different roles,

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Speaker 4: but please reach out if you're interested some mine.

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Speaker 2: Do we any just before I let you go?

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Speaker 1: Do we need or are there going to be any

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Speaker 1: changes to buy laws or government regulation or anything like that,

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Speaker 1: you know, in the future or as a result of

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Speaker 1: the changes that we're seeing at the moment.

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Speaker 3: So the current approval is for Neuron and that approval

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Speaker 3: will move to for it to being BEAM. I guess

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Speaker 3: the biggest thing that the City of Darwin is looking

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Speaker 3: to really align with our movement strategy that pedestrian first philosophy,

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Speaker 3: is the consideration of bi clanes within the CBDs and

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Speaker 3: designated bikelanes for scooters to be able to operate on,

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Speaker 3: So moving them off the footpath and getting them getting

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Speaker 3: them on onto our road network or onto shared paths, Esplanade,

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Speaker 3: shared pass, nightcliff, et cetera, where possible.

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Speaker 1: That's always been a bit of a contentious one, hasn't it.

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Speaker 1: Particularly along the Esplanade. We did see a bikeline there

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Speaker 1: at one point. This is years and years ago then

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Speaker 1: it got removed. But this is well before we had

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Speaker 1: scooters and that kind of thing.

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Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, so this will be a consideration for council

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Speaker 3: and also for the community via community consultation, where we

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Speaker 3: put those bike lanes and where we move around the city.

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Speaker 3: The other great thing that's coming into the city. We

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Speaker 3: know we've got the whole CDU educational procinct. We expect

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Speaker 3: to see more students in the city, not necessarily with cars,

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Speaker 3: so how do they move around the city between all

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Speaker 3: different areas. So I think it's a really exciting time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Hey, Tom, in your experience any other locations, when

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Speaker 1: you talk about those shared bike paths or those shared lanes,

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Speaker 1: is that something that you see in a lot of

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Speaker 1: other capital cities.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely, more so in the last couple of years. And

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Speaker 4: what we're seeing is when there is great infrastructure, the

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Speaker 4: increase in usage of both people using shared operators like us,

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Speaker 4: but also personal vehicles. And I think it's really important

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Speaker 4: for every capital city in Australia to start to embrace that.

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Speaker 1: Another thing I just thought of, I mean, do the

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Speaker 1: costs of hiring the scooters do they change very much

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Speaker 1: or what are they going to look like?

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Speaker 4: You know it'll be very much comparative, and as Simone

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Speaker 4: mentioned earlier, we do have some exciting offers for the

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Speaker 4: local people and tourists alike.

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Speaker 1: Well Tom Cooper, the general manager for Beam Scooters, and

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Speaker 1: Simon and Saunders, the CEO of the Darwin City Council

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Speaker 1: of the City of Darwin. Thank you very much for

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Speaker 1: your time this morning.

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Speaker 4: Thank you very much.

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Speaker 2: Thank you