E-Scooters in Europe: Problems and Measures

Abstract

In Europe, an existing framework de facto considers human-powered kick scooters as toys, and e-scooters as vehicles. Overall, traffic rules for bicycles tend to be applied to e scooters to a large extent. E-scooter sharing services are facing issues involving illegal parking and uneven distribution within the city. Local governments tackle these issues by establishing a monitoring system, and also by imposing obligation on operators to remove illegally parked scooters at their own costs. In the context of urban mobility planning, further research needs to be conducted to understand how e-scooters will substitute other transport modes such as walking, and how they will affect targets of mobility policy.