MP's want measures against shared scooters parked everywhere on the street

The Tweede Kamer wants the government to help municipalities combat nuisances caused by shared scooters. The Cabinet must come up with unambiguous rules with the municipalities, according to a motion by ChristenUnie MP Stieneke van der Graaf and VVD MP Daniel Koerhuis.

Scooter sharing is “increasingly a major source of nuisance,” they said in the motion. “They are not sustainable, compete with bicycles, lead to road safety issues, and are parked everywhere on the street, even on guide strips for the blind,” Van der Graaf said in parliament. She also noted that the scooters are not actually shared but rentals because you have to pay for them.

Municipalities “struggle” with the nuisance, said the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. They’re trying to combat it with local rules, permits, agreements with renters, and “attempts to levy” taxes for parking on the street.

“It turns out to be quite difficult in practice,” said Van der Graaf. According to her, municipalities are sometimes “bombarded” with the arrival of shared scooters. “Whoa, there’s another one, and then it turns out the haven't arranged anything.” Partly as a result of this, local differences arise between the rules regarding permits.

In practice, it is difficult to levy a parking tax or tax on the use of public space, the ChristenUnie MP noted. “Now, it is skewed. One entrepreneur has to pay for the use of public space, for example, for terraces and illuminated advertisements. And you can park these scooters anywhere, and it is apparently difficult to do something about it.”

“Shared scooters are not only handy but often electric and clean,” VVD parliamentarian Koerhuis said. He, therefore, called it “a shame” that they cause so much nuisance. According to him, the motion should help “maintain support” for scooter sharing.

Van der Graaf sees it differently. “They are not sustainable. A shared electric scooter is more than twice as polluting as a privately owned scooter and also more polluting than one with a combustion engine.” According to her, the scooters mainly compete with the bicycle, which causes far fear problems.

The Kamer asked the Cabinet for “an action framework” to give the municipalities something to work with. Perhaps laws and regulations need to be tightened. The MPs will submit their motion during the debate on the Ministry of Infrastructure’s budget on Thursday evening. They say a parliamentary majority already expressed support for it.