E-scooters in Tauranga, New Zealand: Flamingo, prices, the rules, The Strand, Mount Maunganui and Papamoa

Which e-scooter apps work in Tauranga?

One company runs shared e-scooters in Tauranga in 2026: Flamingo. Shared e-scooters arrived in late 2020 with a council trial of Lime. In March 2023 the council decided to keep them and find a permanent operator; Beam won a two-year licence and started on 4 December 2023. On 27 March 2025 the council announced that Beam’s service would end that month, by mutual agreement, and that its exclusive e-scooter licence had been awarded to Flamingo, from 1 April 2025.

At 10.11pm on Saturday 31 October 2026 the map of Tauranga showed 275 Flamingo scooters free to rent at that moment. That total covers Flamingo’s whole Tauranga area, Mount Maunganui and Papamoa included: it runs from Matua and Bethlehem in the west, through the city centre, Greerton and Welcome Bay, and over the Harbour Bridge to the Mount and along the coast to Papamoa East.

The map shows each scooter’s place, its range and Flamingo’s price; zoom in and it also draws Flamingo’s zones and its 13 marked parking spots. It doesn’t show Flamingo’s curfew areas, restricted from 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, which Flamingo doesn’t name: check the app late on a weekend night. The app has the final word on where you may ride and park.

Lime still lists Tauranga in its app, but had no scooter near the city centre on 27 October 2026; the council’s exclusive licence went to Flamingo. Beam left at the end of March 2025.

How much does a Flamingo scooter cost in Tauranga?

Flamingo’s Tauranga rate is NZ$1 to unlock and 55c a minute, 24 hours a day, every day. The map shows that price on each of its scooters.

Discounts. Flamingo gives up to 50% off its standard ride rates in Tauranga to tertiary students with a valid ID and to SuperGold, Community Services, Total Mobility and Hāpai Access card holders. The discount doesn’t apply to its ride passes.

Free minutes. AA members who link their membership get 30 free minutes to use in their first 30 days, then 15 free minutes a month; the unlock fee still applies. Parking at one of Flamingo’s marked spots earns ride credit.

Charges. Flamingo’s terms allow charges of up to NZ$50, or more, for riding outside its area, parking in a no-parking zone or unsafely, or an unclear end-of-ride photo. New to shared e-scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.

Do you need a licence or a helmet? New Zealand’s e-scooter rules

The riding rules are national, the same as in Dunedin. NZTA, the national transport agency, has declared e-scooters with a power output of up to 300 W not to be motor vehicles, so you can ride one without a driving licence or registration, visitor or not. It renewed that declaration in September 2023 for five years, to 2028. The council adds its licence and its rules for Mauao; Flamingo adds its own.

Flamingo’s terms require a helmet. No law asks e-scooter riders for one, though NZTA strongly recommends it; Flamingo’s rental contract says you must wear an approved bicycle helmet. Account holders in Tauranga can order a free Flamingo helmet, paying NZ$10 for delivery.

Cycle lanes are new. A change to the national road rules opened them to e-scooters on 1 October 2026; until then, riding in one was illegal. Since the same day, a driver passing you in the same lane must leave at least 1.5 m.

There’s no 15 km/h footpath limit. A footpath speed limit was proposed in 2020, in a government package called Accessible Streets, and never became law. The 15 km/h you’ll meet on The Strand and Marine Parade is Flamingo’s low-speed zone: its Tauranga page says suburb centres are low-speed zones.

Drinking. Police say e-scooter riders can be charged under the Land Transport Act 1998, with careless driving for instance. Flamingo asks you not to drink before or while riding.

Where to ride and park: The Strand and the city centre

The Strand and the waterfront. Flamingo’s 15 km/h zone in the city centre runs along The Strand and the waterfront, about 1.2 km from end to end. The waterfront strip beside The Strand, about 700 m long, is a no-parking zone, and a short stretch of it is a no-ride zone. Flamingo’s marked spots in the centre include Spring Street and Vitality Kitchen, both inside the slow zone.

The Domain, the bridge, the motorways and the hospital. Tauranga and Wharepai Domains, the sports grounds north of the centre, are no-ride zones. You can ride over the Harbour Bridge to the Mount but not park on it. Stretches of the State Highway 2 and 29A motorways and the grounds of Tauranga Hospital are no-ride zones; Takitimu Drive and its walkway, Memorial Park and the shores of the Waimapu Estuary are no-parking.

Parking. Leave the scooter at the side of the footpath, next to street furniture, clear of the walkway and entrances, and take the end-of-ride photo.

Curfews. When the council approved Lime’s trial in October 2020, it set the trial’s hours at 5am to midnight, with an earlier curfew, 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, in downtown Mount Maunganui and the city centre. Flamingo’s page now restricts its curfew areas from the same hour, but doesn’t say which they are or until when.

Mount Maunganui: Marine Parade, the main beach and Mauao

Downtown Mount Maunganui. Flamingo’s Mount Maunganui low-speed zone, 15 km/h, takes in the shops of Maunganui Road and the streets from Pilot Bay to the foot of Mauao. Its marked spots are on Marine Parade at the foot of Mauao, on Maunganui Road and at Vitality Organics. Coronation Park, Salisbury Wharf and Hopukiore (Mt Drury), the reserve by the main beach, are no-parking zones.

Marine Parade and the main beach. A second 15 km/h zone covers about 2.5 km of Marine Parade, running south-east from the main beach. Moturiki (Leisure Island), joined to the main beach, is a no-ride zone, and so is the Mount’s skatepark.

Mauao. The council lists biking among the things not permitted on Mauao, and allows no vehicles except for maintenance and emergencies; the 2020 trial already kept scooters off its trails. The maunga has been closed to the public since 22 January 2026 because of large slips; the council’s recovery page, updated on 23 October 2026, says it remains closed, with a 30 m exclusion zone around its base and shore, while work goes on towards a staged reopening of the tracks.

Papamoa and the coast

Flamingo’s area follows the coast to Papamoa East, but it has no marked spot in Papamoa. Papamoa Beach is a no-ride zone for about 7 km, from the Papamoa Domain east, and so are Papamoa Plaza, the Gordon Spratt Reserve, the Wairakei Stream walkway and several waterways.

Baybus buses

Baybus, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s buses, lets you bring a kick or push scooter aboard, but not an electric one: it bans e-scooters, and all similar battery-powered transport, for the fire risk of their batteries. Bikes go on the racks outside its Tauranga, Whakatāne and Rotorua urban buses. End a Flamingo ride before you board.

Did you know?

• Mauao, 232 m high, draws around a million visitors a year when it is open, the council says; its base track, Te Ara Tūtanga, loops 3.4 km around the extinct volcano.
• Mount Maunganui was the trial’s busiest spot. Scooter use was highest at its main beach and business area, then the city centre, and Saturday was the busiest day, with close to 100,000 Saturday trips from November 2020 to February 2023, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
• Lime’s trial counted 429,000 trips by 104,000 people and 710,000 km by March 2023, with fewer than 10 injuries reported to the council, the same paper said.
• In the 12 months before Flamingo arrived, riders took more than 175,000 trips and covered more than 317,000 km across Tauranga, the council said in March 2025.