Council pauses E-Device Trial

Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) has made the decision to defer plans for an E-Device Trial.

In voting on the matter, TRC Infrastructure Committee Portfolio Leader Cr Melissa Taylor said Councillors believed the timing wasn’t quite right.

“We had an amazing response from the community on this topic and I’d like to thank everyone who provided feedback,” she said.

“Throughout the engagement period we had 1285 members of the community respond to the survey with an almost even split of people in favour of the trial to those who were against it.

“There was also a large portion of people who said they were unaware of the road rules regarding E-Devices.

“The State Government has drafted new laws for E-Devices and the roll-out of this legislation is being planned for November 2022. “Given the above, we believe the timing is not right to undertake the trial yet, but believe it may be an idea worth pursuing into the future.

“These new laws would assist with mitigating some of the risks which were raised during our survey period and once residents have had time to familiarise themselves with the updated rules, we could potentially look at a trial in 2023/24.

“While we won’t be progressing plans in the immediate future, E-scooters and E-bikes are transport elements that have been identified in the current refresh of the Toowoomba Region Sustainable Transport Strategy.

“We want to see less cars on the road and will continue pursuing options to make this an active and healthy Region.”