While there's no timeline yet, a new tourist attraction might one day appear on Ballarat's streets.
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In last week's City of Ballarat agenda, Neuron Mobility was mentioned in notes regarding an economic partnerships meeting in July.
Neuron Mobility, based in Singapore, operates an e-scooter scheme in several Australian cities, including Adelaide, Brisbane and Darwin.
The scooters require an app to unlock, come with their own helmets, and allow councils to "geofence", or restrict them from certain areas.
In an interview with The Courier last month, council's economic partnerships executive manager James Guy said there was potential for Ballarat to unroll its own e-scooter scheme.
"This type of thing won't be for everyone, but think from the tourism perspective - at the moment, if you come to Ballarat by train, you're really quite limited in the number of key tourism experiences you can cover if you're here for a day or half-day," he said.
"If you introduce into the mix an e-scooter or something like that, you can enjoy the Sturt Street gardens, our largest outdoor museum, then make it up to the Arch of Victory, up to the Prisoner of War Memorial, Australia's only national war memorial outside of Canberra, then a lap of the lake - you've covered four or five of our key attractions in that same time.
"It just opens up, for those that are not driving, a bit better way to move.
"I'm really optimistic we can give that a trial - let's see if it is popular, let's give it a go."
A spokesperson for Neuron confirmed the company had been in touch with the City of Ballarat.
READ MORE: Can tourism ever be the same again?
"We are in touch with many councils across the country including Ballarat. Given the right environment and regulations, e-scooters can be viable in cities of all sizes," they said in a statement.
"Our e-scooters are not like the unpopular shared bike schemes from a few years ago. They are packed with safety features and technology that can really put the council in control of their e-scooter programmes."
A council spokesperson said in a statement e-scooters were one aspect being explored as part of the new Ballarat Integrated Transport Plan, which includes a priority to "pilot new transport options and opportunities".
"Council resolved to write to the relevant state government ministers outlining the key transport priorities for Ballarat included in the plan and advocating for partnership opportunities and funding to accelerate implementation; and to progress with scoping and seeking partnerships with government and the private sector to support pilot, temporary and trial projects that align with the intent of this plan," they said.
"This includes new modes not yet used in Ballarat (such as e-scooters), new business models (including car and bike share arrangements), wider rollout of new technologies (such as hydrogen and electric fuel cell vehicles) and reduced speed limits in high pedestrian locations, as part of a flexible and adaptable approach to diversifying the current transport mix.
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"Officers are talking to a wide range of stakeholders to explore opportunities which may give residents and visitors new transport options into the future.
"It is early days and we look forward to continuing to engage with the full spectrum of government, community and commercial stakeholders to deliver the priorities of the transport plan."
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