Capital to chop variety of scooters on streets in main overhaul.

Rome’s metropolis administration has printed the tenders for the number of three electrical scooter firms which can start working within the capital below new stricter phrases from 1 January 2023.

The town will reduce the variety of scooter sharing firms from the present seven down to a few, with every firm entitled to function a minimal of two,500 autos and a most of three,000.

It will imply the variety of scooters on town’s streets will drop from the present 14,500 to about 9,000. The town centre would have a most of three,000 scooters, with the remaining unfold out amongst different areas of the capital.

Underneath the three-year concession, every scooter have to be outfitted with a metal registration plate and the addition of a QR code for digital identification, with all customers required to register utilizing an identification card.

The highest velocity restrict might be 20 km per hour, down to 6 km per hour in pedestrian areas, and the scooters can solely be rented by customers aged 18 or over.

A Rome site visitors police officer stops a vacationer couple sharing an electrical scooter. Though unlawful, travelling in two has turn out to be the norm. #monopattino pic.twitter.com/IUu7jjr7Z5— Needed in Rome (@wantedinrome) Might 11, 2022

Municipal transport authorities will monitor the situation of the autos, with penalties for scooter rental firms within the occasion that the brand new phrases are violated. The town can even designate no-parking areas.

Mayor Roberto Gualiteri stated the transfer, a part of a serious overhaul of the sector, will convey order to a chaotic scenario, and that the brand new guidelines might be “attentive to the wants of residents and concrete decorum”. 

In 2020 cities throughout Italy welcomed giant fleets of app-based electrical scooters, with many city commuters embracing the autos to keep away from public transport attributable to covid-19 issues.

Since then the scooters have confronted a lot criticism, significantly in Rome, over the manner they’re deserted on streets in addition to the hazard they pose to motorists, pedestrians and scooter customers themselves.

For extra particulars concerning the tenders and new phrases for electrical scooter in Rome see town’s mobility web site.

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