Source: TheMayor.eu

The suburbs surrounding the Belgian capital have recently made the decision to abolish access for e-scooters – in contrast to Paris’s policies, where they have been banned from the city centre’s streets.

In April, Paris residents voted to ban the e-scooter sharing services within the city, sparking discussions about the potential emergence of this action in other major European cities. Interestingly, in neighbouring Belgium, it’s not the capital region but the tranquil suburbs adjacent to Brussels that are embracing this idea.

These new changes mean that attempting to complete a journey on an e-scooter across the municipal limits to neighbouring suburbs just isn’t possible.

E-scooter companies have since urged Flemish local authorities to allow shared micro-mobility services, however these efforts have been met with strong opposition. E-scooter operators like Bolt and Tier are keen to expand into the Flemish satellite municipalities surrounding Brussels due to their proximity to the city centre, unlike the municipalities situated to the south of Brussels, which are more distant from the centre.

Given that shared e-scooter schemes would improve the mobility integration with downtown Brussels, where many residents work and spend leisure time, this begs the question of why the governments of the municipalities in question refuse to allow this.

According to The Brussels Times, the smaller local governments are unimpressed by the numerous complaints about reckless speeding and chaotic parking that often accompany the use of shared micro-mobility services.

Ingrid Holemans, the mayor of Zaventem, a town whose territory includes the international airport of the Belgian capital, simply stated, “We don’t want them.”

The VIAS road safety institute reveals that accidents involving electric scooters in Belgium have quadrupled over the past two years. Such statistics raise concerns among local officials, who have concluded that e-scooters could disrupt the peaceful nature of suburban life.

Even in Brussels proper, the future appears bleak for electric two-wheelers. Starting from 2024, only two operators will be allowed to operate within the Belgian capital, each with a cap of 4,000 scooters. Whether this restriction will influence the municipalities to open their doors to these services remains uncertain.