Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim are demanding more autonomy in self-regulation of the rules governing the commercial rental of small electric vehicles on their territory.
The cities examined the proposal from the Norwegian Public Road Administration (Statens vegvesen) for new small regulations electric vehiclessuch as electric scooters. Big cities are positive about some regulations, such as the alcohol limit and age limit, but feel that it is not enough to solve the serious problems of incorrect parking and limited accessibility, especially for people with disabilities.
The government must sort out the chaos soon
- Now the government must soon sort out the chaos it started on electric scooters three years ago. What Hareide has proposed unfortunately does not solve the problems posed by thousands of electric scooters. Cities must be able to limit the number of bicycles or scooters, economic operators and how they operate, and this is urgent. Without it, I fear new chaos and more accidents, says Oslo environmental councilor Lan Marie Berg.
The commercial activity of the companies has created problems
It is the commercial activities of companies that have created problems for cities. Oslo and many others cities have repeatedly asked for permission to regulate the commercial rental of small towns electric vehicles in municipal areas. However, in this round of consultations, there is still no ready-made solution on the table. Big cities are disappointed that the government has not gone further. Several proposals for regulatory change address issues that municipalities believe could just as easily be resolved locally through municipal regulation of business activities.
The organization of the municipal sector (KS-Kommunesektorens) understands that municipalities are disappointed with the lack of specific room for maneuver by municipalities.
- The government has placed a lot of responsibility on the municipalities, opening up to a significant increase in the use of electric scooters. The state must ensure that municipalities are provided with the tools and resources necessary to fulfill this responsibility, says Helge Eide's director of interest policy at KS.
- Now it seems that there are traffic rules in place that are better adapted, he continues. However, KS has made it clear that municipalities need clear room for maneuver to be able to regulate commercial rentals if electric scooters are to be a sustainable part of the city. KS assumes the government will continue to work on this, but KS has now taken the initiative to look more closely at how an explanation can be legally designed, says Eide.
This is what big cities are asking for
Cities need a legal base that explicitly gives the right to regulate economic activity on their own streets. Cities know local conditions best and therefore must be given a wide margin of maneuver to control the commercial use of the streets.
Cities want, among other things:
Possibilities to regulate the rental of electric scooters, for example by limiting their number and number of entities, as well as establishing binding requirements that may be sanctioned in the event of non-compliance. This is to reduce the scale of the problem.
Possibility to regulate the places where electric scooters can ride and park, for example by means of digital maps (geofencing). This is to reduce conflict with other road users.
Possibilities of establishing requirements for proper operation, e.g. by ordering the closing of the offer overnight, or establishing environmental requirements. This is to overcome accidents and to ensure that small electric vehicles actually provide sustainable and environmentally friendly mobility.
