The scooter rental season has sparked another wave of negativity towards this form of transportation among citizens. A recent SuperJob survey showed that 21% of Muscovites suggest banning scooters from moving in the city center, while 31% of St. Petersburg residents agree. Meanwhile, legislators are not rushing to establish clear rules for the use of personal mobility devices, including scooters and hoverboards. Only on May 27, the State Duma Committee on Construction and Legislation recommended that lawmakers pass a bill in the first reading on fines for violating traffic rules for ride-sharing service users.
In the world, scooters are often regulated at the local level by regions or cities. However, Russian local authorities have taken a different approach – pressuring businesses to solve the problem themselves. In St. Petersburg, scooters were actively towed to impound lots: by May 19, local media reported that more than 6,000 scooters had been evacuated from parking lots.
Such measures undoubtedly lead to losses for ride-sharing companies. However, following the example of their car-sharing colleagues, who fully transfer fines and downtime to drivers, ride-sharing services are unlikely to succeed. The responsibility of car drivers on the road is higher, as is their willingness to pay for rule violations. In this case, scooter users would simply stop using the services.
A logical solution seems to be developing algorithms that prohibit users from leaving scooters outside designated parking areas. But in large cities, in the conditions of incorrect geolocation working, especially now, against the backdrop of protection against unmanned aerial vehicles, this is almost an impossible task. The services themselves admitted that in some cases, they allowed users to leave scooters outside permitted zones for this reason. High-tech solutions were also not found. Ride-sharing services tried to combat riding scooters in pairs by introducing new developments, including those using artificial intelligence – for example, Whoosh in St. Petersburg. But this did not help: the streets are still full of those who ride electric scooters in pairs and even in threes.
The market has reached a deadlock. On one hand, the problem of violations by electric scooter users is becoming more acute, while on the other hand, regional authorities clearly do not want to take matters into their own hands, expecting ride-sharing companies, whose incomes are threatened, to find ways to control the situation. However, there are currently no obvious and realistic mechanisms in sight. So, it is quite possible that responsibility at the traffic rule level is a good idea. The question is how effectively it will be enforced. After all, how often have you been fined for crossing the road in the wrong place? And it is required.