A policy recommendation for cities on shared e-scooters

German city and transportation associations – Association of German cities (DST), the Association of German Cities and Municipalities (SDtGB) and Agora Verkehrswende have published the first report on international experiences with shared e-scooters, describing its opportunities, and their impact on city transportation and recommendations on regulating e-scooters.

E-scooters just recently, in June became legal for street use in Germany. Like at other locations, there has not been enough understanding on the city policymakers’ side on how to regulate parking and operation of scooters in cities, leading to some frustration on the side of shared mobility companies and customers. The report provides a guideline on which sets of rules, related to parking or infrastructure to use for various e-scooters, like kick scooters with a maximum engine of 500 W and self-balancing small electric vehicles with a maximum engine of 1400 W. 

Read the report

A study links social mobility to the walkability of cities

There is no shortage of discussion on the importance of decluttering our cities from too much transportation and the impact transportation has on everyday life and the stress of urban citizens. Carsharing, ride-sharing, scooter-sharing and other shared mobility services hope to address these issues individually or through MaaS packages. A new study goes even further in the assessment of transportation impact on social mobility and progress in society. Researchers from Columbia University, the University of Illinois and the University of Virginia have published a new paper on a link between the walkability of cities and how individuals advance economically in society. 

Turning Paris into bike-sharing and carsharing friendly city

A deep dive interview with the Mayor of Paris, Anne Higaldo about her green initiatives and how she is working with carsharing companies, ride-hailing, scooter-sharing, and bike-sharing services to make the city less congested and more livable. An interesting statistic that jumps out of the page: Paris car ownership dropped from 60% of households in 2001 to 35% today. This hasn’t been so easy, according to Ms. Higaldo, taxi companies have been quite upset with her initiatives, as bicycle lanes eat into car space and her initiatives are seen as middle-class overtake of the city. Meanwhile, Paris has risen on the list of bike-friendly cities from 17th place in 2015 to 8th today.