E-scooters that become tripping hazards, rental scooters that block sidewalks, rental bikes that perish in green spaces. The blessing of modern sharing mobility has become a curse in many places. What can be done about it has been discussed for a long time. Now Transport Senator Regine Günther (Greens) has submitted a draft bill to amend the Berlin Road Act, which is now intended to regulate the offer.
Essentially, it is about making the setting up of rental bikes or scooters subject to a permit requirement. If you want to park your rental vehicle on the sidewalk or in public parking lots, you need a special use permit from the district concerned and have to pay for it. This would also affect car sharing providers who park their cars on the roadside. So far there has only been a ban on parking e-scooters in certain places or in parks.
In general, the administration would like to better control and limit the offer. In 2019, the number of car sharing cars and vans on the public road increased to 6,000, doubling compared to the previous year, according to the reasoning behind the draft.
In January 2020, five providers of e-scooters and scooters with a total of 16,000 vehicles were active in Berlin, as well as seven providers of 14,000 rental bicycles.
Administration can write out licenses
The car sharing fleet now occupies up to 15 percent of the public parking spaces in the city center. For certain streets or squares that have an oversupply of rental vehicles, the administration can organize an invitation to tender and link this to certain criteria.
It would be conceivable that the providers not only limit the number of their rental vehicles, but also commit themselves to only use fixed parking spaces and to place a certain proportion of the fleet in outskirts, which have so far been ignored by most sharing services as not profitable. However, it is unclear whether the providers will get involved. The licenses should only be granted for a limited time and can be revoked if the agreement is not complied with.
[Konkret aus Ihrem Kiez: Die 12 Tagesspiegel-Newsletter für die 12 Berliner Bezirke – kostenlos und Bezirk für Bezirk hier: leute.tagesspiegel.de]
The transport policy spokesman for the Greens, Harald Moritz, is satisfied with the draft, which will be specified later in the form of implementing regulations. “The sale of vehicles is a commercial activity, so this is a special use of the road and must be approved accordingly.” How high the fees will be remains to be discussed.
Provider Lime rejects the draft
The provider Lime rejects the draft. “Berlin is on the way to prevent innovations and alienate providers,” says managing director Jashar Seyfi. “We criticize the fact that the sanctioning of providers is currently in the foreground and that the Senate has written the law to exclude providers by tendering – possibly by lot.” If the fleet of rental vehicles is limited, the economic attractiveness of offering the service in the outskirts will decrease.
Because of Corona, the fleet of rental bikes and e-scooters has now shrunk significantly. The number of providers has also decreased due to takeovers.
