After an preliminary warning for the primary parking violation, one agency plans to cost customers an additional 5 euros for every successive infraction.
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The City of Helsinki is working with e-scooter rental corporations to scale back the issues and inconveniences that the gadgets have prompted.
The winter’s cussed ice is progressively disappearing, which implies that the town’s pavements and streets will quickly be full of rentable e-scooters once more.
The gadgets have prompted friction since they began showing within the metropolis a couple of years in the past.
Due to security issues, usually associated to intoxicated customers, the scooters’ prime speeds had been diminished throughout the board in Helsinki final 12 months, following the town’s negotiations with e-scooter rental corporations Voi Technology, TIER Mobility and Lime.
The operators agreed to scale back the utmost speeds of the gadgets from 25kph to 20kph, in addition to restrict their speeds to 15kph from midnight to 5am throughout the town. The e-scooters had been additionally made unavailable on weekend nights.
Now, as firms put together to roll out fleets of the battery-powered autos for the hotter seasons, a lot of new guidelines are on the best way, considered one of which may end up in further fees for riders if they do not park appropriately.
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The nation managers of TIER Mobility and Voi Technology, Elina Bürkland and Reetta Alastalo, in addition to the City of Helsinki transport system unit chief Heikki Palomäki spoke with Yle to elucidate the modifications.
1. Downtown parking areas
The usually chaotic method by which e-scooter customers parked the autos prompted issues final 12 months. There had been as much as 8,000 rentable e-scooters in use within the capital.
Operators and the town have determined to offer dozens of parking areas for the gadgets throughout the downtown space. They shall be concentrated in locations the place renters usually finish their journeys, together with public transportation stops, in response to Voi’s Alastalo.
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All of the parking areas will characteristic indicators with some having painted road markings, whereas others will supply racks for the e-scooters.
Renters will nonetheless be capable of depart the scooters outdoors these marked zones, however operators will reward use of the parking heaps within the type of free rental time.
2. Required parking pictures
Going ahead, e-scooter renters might want to take a photograph of how they parked the gadgets earlier than having the ability to finish their journeys.
“The entire e-scooter must be visible in the photo. Then we’ll be able to assess whether it is well parked or not,” TIER’s Bürkland defined, who identified that the pictures shall be necessary, no matter the place they’re parked.
If a renter neglects to ship a snapshot of their parking job, the e-scooter’s meter continues working, and the person will proceed to be charged.
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Operators will monitor the parking pictures utilizing synthetic intelligence know-how in addition to precise individuals.
If scooters are deemed to be inadequately parked, renters shall be despatched a message reminding them about park appropriately. Users will face further fees if parking guidelines are damaged once more.
“We will charge a five euro fee for the second bad parking incident,” Voi’s Alastalo mentioned, including that the agency will assessment how efficient the charge is and plan to extend it, if wanted.
3. Parking patrols
E-scooter parking shall be monitored by staff from Just Arrived, a Sweden-based employment company agency that helps recently-arrived foreigners — or others who’ve issue discovering work — to get jobs.
“We began a similar cooperation [with Just Arrived] last year in several cities across Sweden,” Bürkland mentioned.
The screens will patrol the town streets, tidying up poorly-placed e-scooters. The service is paid for by the rental firms, that are additionally masking the prices of parking area upkeep.
4. Speed limits
Lower velocity limits will proceed this 12 months, after they had been launched in autumn 2021.
The choice to scale back prime speeds was primarily based on rising numbers of accidents and rider accidents final summer time. This was extra frequent on weekend nights when alcohol was usually an element.
Aalto University is conducting a examine about e-scooter utilization, in cooperation with the City of Helsinki, rental firms and the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The metropolis’s transport techniques chief Palomäki mentioned that the examine goals to achieve insights about e-scooter accidents, amongst different points. The widespread use of the private autos remains to be so new that the subject wants examination, he added.
He famous that Helsinki does not goal to eliminate rentable e-scooters, and that it considers micro-mobility to be an essential a part of the town’s transport techniques.
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5. Alcohol restrict concerns
A transport ministry report about visitors security that was printed this week means that Finland ought to set up authorized limits on the blood alcohol ranges of sunshine autos, measures that may have an effect on e-scooter drivers in addition to cyclists.
The rental corporations help such measures.
TIER’s Bürkland mentioned blood alcohol limits for e-scooters would let riders know that they should not drive whereas intoxicated, whatever the mode of transport.
“We are in favour of the idea, definitely. But we also know that the creation of such laws will take time. That’s why we want to offer alternative solutions that improve safety now,” Voi’s Alastalo mentioned.