The first city in Israel to announce: No more shared scooters

Holon Mayor Shai Keinan announced over the weekend that starting September 17, the operation of electric scooters in the city will be discontinued.

"Public space belongs first and foremost to the city's residents; sidewalks must be safe, clear, and accessible to pedestrians, children, senior citizens, and people with disabilities," said Keinan. "After examining the reality on the ground, we decided to put an end to the operation of shared scooters in their current format. Alongside this, we are not giving up on green transport — we will work to promote safer, more orderly, and more appropriate solutions for the city, including the use of bicycles."

In fact, the Holon Municipality is becoming the first in Israel to make the decision to remove scooters from its space, and operators will now be required to remove the vehicles from the city. The move, of course, is not passing in silence.

"The municipality chose to remove from the city precisely the vehicles on which advanced control mechanisms can be applied," stated the Association of Shared Scooter Operators at the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce. "The decision is expected to push more residents to use private scooters, to which those same control mechanisms cannot be applied. The shared service allows for real-time monitoring through age and identity verification, speed limits that cannot be changed, slow-down zones and riding prohibitions based on Geo-Fencing, identification plates, and the suspension of riders who violate the rules."

"Effective transport policy is not based on sweeping bans, but on smart management of urban transport. A ban on shared scooters will harm tens of thousands of residents who use them daily to get to work, studies, and public transport, and will increase dependence on private cars. Instead of removing from the city the vehicles that can be monitored, it is correct to adopt a policy based on regulation, supervision, public awareness, and enforcement — a policy that strengthens safety, improves the management of public space, and provides residents with an efficient transport solution."

The European capital where scooters were banned

In Israel, several shared scooter companies currently operate — among them Bird, Lime, and Dott — and in Holon itself, approval was granted for about a thousand vehicles in the city. Considering the transport climate in Israel, it seems there is almost no place that can be reached solely by public transport, and that shared vehicles can assist with the "first and last mile."

There is no dispute that there are problems with the way scooter riders behave and the way they are parked — but the Scooter Association points out that the solution to this should come in the form of regulation, not a ban. Although this is the trend worldwide, it is worth noting Paris, where about three years ago a referendum was held, and scooter rentals were banned.