2023-08-24 15:39:49
The Walloon government adopted a decree on Thursday to better regulate fleets of shared bicycles and scooters in cities and to ensure more sustainable management.
The text provides for the granting by the Region of licenses only to operators who will meet various technical requirements, such as vehicle characteristics but also the sustainability of fleet management. The Walloon municipalities will be able to set specific operating conditions on their territory. “This reform aims to guarantee customers of these services more secure vehicles. It also pushes companies to manage their fleet in a more sustainable way, particularly in terms of the energy impact linked to electric bicycles and scooters, ”comments the Walloon Minister for Mobility, Philippe Henry (Ecolo), quoted in a press release on Thursday.
More sustainable fleet management
In concrete terms, operators will have to submit their license application using a form which will soon be available on the Walloon Region’s portal. Operators who have already been offering cycle-sharing vehicles for more than a month on the territory of the Walloon Region must be in order for a license for free-fleet cycle-sharing by 1 January 2024 at the latest. For new players, the decree will be immediately applicable.
The decree also lays down rules for more sustainable management of the fleet, namely the changing of batteries and the collection of cycle-sharing vehicles. This must be operated exclusively by non-motorized vehicles or electric vehicles up to a minimum of 50% from 2023, and 100% by 2026.
In addition, this management of the fleet must be carried out by local companies whose establishment unit is located less than fifty kilometers from the vehicle operating area.
Brussels had also given a turn of the screw
As a reminder, the Brussels Region had also ratified a series of more restrictive framework rules for self-service machines, to implement them on January 1, 2024. A more severe regulation which sounded like a warning for operators: “ If it appears that the rules are not being respected, we will consider moving to a total ban on shared electric scooters, ”warned Brussels Minister for Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen).
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