The arrival of 500 new e-mopeds from Dutch rental company GO Sharing will double the amount of rental mopeds in Brussels.
While sometimes also referred to as scooters, these are ridden while seated, rather than the step-scooters already seen littering the sidewalks of the city.
Go Sharing was already active in Antwerp, and Brussels will be the second Belgian city in which it operates after its mopeds are deployed on Wednesday.
The arrival of these 500 new mopeds comes as the majority parties in Brussels Parliament are looking to enact new rules for such types of rental transportation, as thoughtlessly-abandoned scooters have become a menace in the city for pedestrians and anyone else looking to safely traverse a Brussels sidewalk.
While many in Brussels find the scooters left strewn about public places annoying, the issue is especially problematic for wheelchair-bound residents, many of whom already find the narrow city sidewalks difficult to navigate.
Go Sharing doesn't use designated parking docks for its mopeds, simply instructing users to “park the e-moped anywhere within the service area” and “make sure that you don't cause any inconvenience to other road users.”
“With the arrival of GO Sharing, the number of shared e-mopeds available in Brussels will be doubled,” Go Sharing said in a press release.
“With the 500 e-mopeds, the shared transport company provides the volume and coverage that Brussels’ residents need to find a shared vehicle within walking distance round the clock.”
Bonjour, Hallo, Hi, Brussels! ? ??#brussels #belgium #gosharing pic.twitter.com/zI8OKsiiDs
— GO Sharing (@gosharingoff) October 27, 2021
Go Sharing announced a capital injection of €50 million in the spring of 2021, saying they plan to use the investment to add e-bikes and shared electric cars to its fleet, and increase their international presence, including in Belgium.
“Our motto is ‘a green planet with mobility owned by everyone, shared by everyone,’” Raymon Pouwels, CEO of GO Sharing, said in a statement.
“Together with our users, we ensure less CO2 emissions and less traffic congestion with our electric shared transport, as well as reducing the need for parking spaces in cities. I am very proud that we’re now also realizing this in the capital of Europe.”
GO Sharing is also active in Vienna, Saarbrücken, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Neuss and Istanbul.
