In Flemish municipalities on the outskirts of Brussels, authorities are cracking down on the arrival of electric scooters, to the dismay of micro-mobility companies, La Dernière Heure reports.
Open any scooter rental application and the borders of the Brussels-Capital Region are well defined. It is impossible to hire or end a journey outside the city boundary – a limitation that has frustrated micro-mobility companies who argue that this hinders mobility.
“There is demand,” François-Xavier Giraud of German micro-mobility company Tier told DH. The company hires over 2,000 scooters across the capital. The annoyance was echoed by a spokesperson for rival company Bolt, who said that many people use the scooters to reach the borders of Flanders before parking them and continuing by other means.
“If for example you take tram 3 and arrive at Esplanade, you should be able to take a scooter to go to Strombeek-Bever,” said Yessin Aattache from VOI. The company says that around 10 drop zones in the Flemish border town would be sufficient.
Several companies are pushing for Flanders to allow scooters to reach as far as Dilbeek and Kraainem to encourage greater mobility. No company has plans to expand southwards, as the distances between towns are much greater.
Companies such as Bolt are ready to respond to demand if the authorities will let them. Credit: Belga / Juan Godbille
Despite the demand from companies and consumers, Flemish municipalities remain unconvinced. Each Flemish municipality sets its own rules but faced with a flood of complaints about their use in the capital and new rules seeking to put the brakes on e-mobility, none seem willing to open up to the scooters.
“We don’t want them,” mayor of Zaventem, Ingrid Holemans, said bluntly. Other municipalities point to the number of accidents related to electric scooters. According to the VIAS road safety institute, there was a four-fold increase in accidents relating to electric scooters across Belgium in the last two years.
Wemmel and Grimbergen both echo the opposition. Kraainem says it has not been contacted by the relevant companies. The nearest Flemish municipality to Brussels that is not technically opposed to a fleet of electric scooters is Zennestad, in the city of Mechelen, but this proposal has stalled.
A scooter left in Oostende, Monday 31 January 2022. Credit: Belga / Kurt Desplenter
Limited prospects
An increasingly hostile climate towards electric scooters in Brussels, both by regional and municipal governments, will certainly have an impact on any future expansion to the periphery.
Only two scooter operators will remain in Brussels from 2024, capped at 4,000 scooters per company. If scooter companies do plan to lobby the Flemish municipalities, it will only likely be these two scooter companies who will be considered.
Some companies instead see more potential for their shared bicycles, which are “better suited for long distances.”
“The Flemish local authorities we spoke to were in favour of bike-sharing projects, such as the one currently being developed by the Vervoerregio Vlaamse Rand,” one company told DH. This proposed network will offer a shared bike service linking 30 of the municipalities bordering Brussels, helping to improve connectivity over long distances to the border.
