In future, visitors to Copenhagen will again be able to use electric scooters when traveling around the capital. Four companies have shown an interest in setting up rental scooters in the City, and two of these are ready to put scooters on the street from today. But it will be on completely different terms than what Copenhageners have previously had been used to.
In future, the scooters can only be parked in one of 240 designated parking zones and it will no longer be possible to rent the scooters or end a trip in the central part of the city. The area covers parts of Vesterbro, Østerbro, Amager, Christianshavn and the entire Inner City. Users can still use the scooter throughout the city and park it temporarily while the taximeter is running, but it will no longer be possible to leave the scooter to a new user as before within the designated prohibition zone, unless it is on private land.
– “We have previously experienced major problems with scooters, which were left across sidewalks and bike paths which made it difficult for Copenhageners to get around the city. These problems should be be overcome by the introduction of new rules. In addition, we will maintain constant dialogue with the rental companies to handle any challenges,” – says unit manager in the Technical and Environmental Administration, Jesper Borch.
To ensure that the new rules are complied with, the City Council has decided to assign two of the municipality’s parking guards to carry out regular inspections of parked scooters as soon as the first providers put scooters on the street. If they encounter scooters that are set up outside the parking areas and which are not under rental, these scooters will be impounded and the provider will receive a bill of DKK 338 (45,43 Euro) per unit.
In addition to new rules for scooters, the City Council has also laid down rules for bike rentals, which can now be set up based on individual contracts with the municipality. Unlike the rules for scooters, it has been decided not to set a ceiling on the number of rental bicycles being made available, nor has a decision been made on introducing a prohibition zone. However, cyclists are instructed to park park their bikes in communal bike rack.
A rental bicycle is considered to be illegally parked if the bicycle is not located in the infrastructure provided at any given time, such as municipal bicycle racks or in other areas marked for bicycle parking on public roads or in close proximity to the bicycle rack or area marked for bicycle parking. The parking guards carry out monthly random checks on the rental bikes.
So far two companies have applied to introduce a total of 3,500 bicycles. These agreements have not yet been confirmed by the City Council.
Date of first publication: October 18th, 2021
Source: Copenhagen Municipality
