Rotterdam mayor wants to ban beer bikes in the city

Beere bikes may soon disappear from Rotterdam streets, if Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and Alderman Vincent Karremans get their way. The mayor and coalition of aldermen leading the city will soon submit a proposal to the city council to amend the general local ordinance to ban the vehicle.

"Beer bicycles often lead to nuisance," said Aboutaleb on Wednesday. "The beer bike users cause public order disturbances such as urinating in public, jeering at bystanders and public drunkenness. The use of the group bike also leads to traffic nuisance." He added that many Rotterdam cycle paths are already too narrow for the number of cyclists and scooter riders, making it difficult to safely handle all traffic according to national guidelines.

The coalition also believes that beer bikes block sidewalks when people mount and dismount them, which puts pedestrians in a pickle. "Group bicycles such as the beer bike are a nice invention, but are not suitable for a busy city like Rotterdam. Beer bikes cause nuisance and danger in traffic. Of course we want our residents and visitors to have plenty of fun, but not riding on a cumbersome and slow vehicle, in the middle of on the cycle path, with large amounts of beer on board. That is a recipe for misery," said Karremans, the alderman in charge of enforcement, outdoor space and mobility.

The vehicle recently caused irritation among some Rotterdammers. The largest political party in the council, Leefbaar Rotterdam, wants to get rid of the beer bike and asked the mayor about it.

Amsterdam already banned the vehicle in large parts of the city in 2017. Two years later, the beer bike was completely banned because it led to many reports about nuisance, such as urinating in public, public drunkenness and the blocking of cycle paths.