Alexandre from Ixelles contacted us via the “Alert Us” button to express his frustration with his commune. He is fed up with seeing electric scooters and bicycles blocking his street. The reason is that he lives just 50 meters away from the town of Uccle, where such vehicles are no longer allowed on public roads. As a result, users are parking them in his street. The regulations in Ixelles and Uccle differ on the parking of scooters, with Uccle implementing a zero-tolerance policy on bad parking.
The decision to ban electric scooter parking in Uccle has gone once morest the wishes of other municipalities, who wish to create “drop zones” to park these vehicles. In contrast, Ixelles sees a common strategy for the whole of the Brussels region as the solution. The mayor criticizes Uccle’s policy on scooters and suggests it affects the neighboring municipalities. Alexandre is frustrated with the inaction of Ixelles to overcome these problems, which annoy the inhabitants.
Thankfully, parking lots for scooters are planned to be created in Brussels municipalities, including Ixelles, for the upcoming school year. The aim is to draw the “drop zones” on sidewalk pavements by the end of summer, with regular reporting of misplaced scooters by the police. It is hoped that this will solve the scooter parking issue for Alexandre and the inhabitants of Ixelles.
It was via the orange Alert Us button that Alexandre contacted us to let us know of his anger towards his commune. This resident of Ixelles can no longer bear to see his street obstructed by electric scooters and bicycles. The reason ? Alexandre lives 50m from the town of Uccle, where this type of vehicle can no longer be left on public roads. As a result, users park in his street.
For several years now, electric scooters have been an integral part of our landscape. Fast and practical, many of them roam the streets alongside bicycles. If they make it possible to move towards less polluting traffic, this means of transport is not without risk or inconvenience. Alexandre is facing a major problem: due to a difference in rules and a refusal to cooperate between Ixelles and Uccle on shared vehicles, his street is flooded with scooters.
Two neighboring municipalities, two different regulations
The problem at the origin of this situation comes from the regulations which are in force in Ixelles and Uccle with regard to the parking of scooters. “Two years ago, we started removing badly parked scooters from public spaces and impounding them. (…) We apply a zero tolerance on the bad parking of scooters“, explains Arnaud Carlot, chief of staff to the mayor of Uccle. Indeed, since September 2022, the mayor of the town has announced the end of the parking of electric scooters on public roads.
Concretely, this means that it is no longer possible to leave your electric scooter shared in this municipality. A strong decision which goes once morest the wish of the other municipalities, which they wish to create “drop zones” (specific places where to deposit these vehicles). He justifies this choice by explaining: “(…) just for the municipality of Uccle, the study office which was designated by the region, told us that we had to provide 350 parking spaces for scooters. This is nonsense. (…) In addition, if we want these spaces to be subsidized, 350 parking spaces will have to be eliminated in the municipality of Uccle“.
He also explains how, in other cities, the creation of ‘drop zones’ has not necessarily improved the situation. “The city of Paris has set up ‘drop zones’ but despite this, it will soon hold a referendum in April on the usefulness of still having self-service scooters on its territory. Despite these places created, it remains chaos“.
A different vision in Ixelles
In the municipality of Ixelles, we do not see things in the same way. The mayor, Christos Delkouris, criticizes the municipality of Uccle for wanting to go it alone in relation to these ‘drop zones’. “I believe that the solution comes from a strategy that is common to the whole of the Brussels region and not from isolated strategies“. In particular, he deplores Uccle’s policy on scooters. “Unfortunately, when a municipality decides to stand apart and work alone on its side, this has an impact on the other neighboring municipalities.“. He continues by specifying: “If I, too, were to do what Uccle does, namely to take rules on my own, there are six other municipalities that surround Ixelles. This would mean that the six other municipalities would be impacted since people would park their scooters on the territory of the other municipalities.“.
It’s a bit anarchy sometimes
For Alexandre, enough is enough. He can no longer bear having to go through an obstacle course to get to his home. “I have already seen scooters in front of garages, in front of my front door where I just passed. I pity moms who have strollers. (…) It’s a bit anarchy sometimes“. He deplores the inaction of the municipality of Ixelles to overcome these problems which annoy the inhabitants. “It’s pissed off and I’m not the only one. (…) We still expect that there will be a little more responsibility on the part of users“.
Parking lots planned for the start of the school year
If the municipality of Uccle does not intend to install places to park your scooter, this will indeed be the case for Ixelles as well as for other Brussels municipalities. “The process has been underway for a month now. (…) Each of the municipalities draws a place where scooters can be parked. With us, the plan is already made. Now we have to draw it on sidewalks“, explains Christos Delkouris.
As for the date on which these ‘drop zones’ will be operational, the mayor of Ixelles has a window that he would like to keep. “My objective is that by the end of the summer, beginning of the new school year, all the ‘drop zones’ are drawn on the sidewalk and that the measurement can be taken. In the meantime, I have also asked the police to be attentive and regularly report scooters that are misplaced“, he explains.
Hoping that for Alexandre and the inhabitants of Ixelles, these new areas allow the streets of the capital to no longer be obstructed.
In conclusion, the issue of electric scooter parking regulations highlights the challenges that come with new forms of transportation in cities. While Uccle has taken a hard-line approach and banned shared scooter parking on public roads, Ixelles is looking to create designated drop zones for these vehicles. The different approaches have caused frustration for residents like Alexandre, who have experienced street obstructions due to the lack of a coordinated solution. Hopefully, the planned drop zones in Ixelles and other Brussels municipalities will alleviate these issues and allow for safer and more responsible use of electric scooters.