Clampdown on anarchy of electric scooters

Municipalities in Nicosia are to confiscate electric scooters if they are left “abandoned” in public places, it emerged on Tuesday.

Following mounting complaints from the capital’s residents, a meeting between the municipal secretaries and municipal engineers of six municipalities – Aglandjia, Ayios Dhometios, Engomi, Lakatamia, Nicosia and Strovolos – agreed that it is “absolutely necessary” to take action.

In light of this, the Nicosia municipality sent a five-pointed letter to the city’s two scooter operators, Bolt and Scroll, highlighting their demands for a better-controlled fleet of scooters.

One major change set to be implemented is that the municipalities rather than the operating companies will now determine where scooters can be left, in the form of “pick up stations”.

The Nicosia municipality said that “pick-up stations” will be “close to roads where, based on current legislation, scooter traffic is allowed”.

Any scooter left in any other place will be considered “abandoned” by the municipality, and in cases where municipal authorities discover such a scooter in a public place, they will impose a fine on the operating company.

Additionally, they said all electric scooters must have a unique serial number, to ensure that the companies only circulate the number of scooters stipulated in their licensing agreements.

Should one without a serial number be discovered by municipal authorities, they will confiscate the scooter and impose a fine on the operating company.

As a last resort, they added, they are willing to revoke the operating licences of the operating companies should they remain “dissatisfied” with the scooters.

Meanwhile, Strovolos municipality’s municipal engineer Athanasios Kolyvas told Phileleftheros that “attempts are being made to bring some order to the anarchy”.

In addition, Engomi mayor Zacharias Kyriacou confirmed that his own municipality would also proceed to confiscate scooters which are “abandoned” on footpaths and insist the operating companies pay for their removal.

He added that permits were given for scooters to circulate on cycle paths, but that they are now “everywhere, on roads, streets, and footpaths, causing danger”.

Companies already impose “fines” on their users who do not park their scooters in a satisfactory manner, with all riders compelled to take a photograph of their scooter and send it to the operator at the end of their ride.

Cyprus is a car-centric society, with over 90 per cent of Cypriots listing the car as their preferred method of transport.

A recent Nicosia municipality report reveals that public transport is responsible for just three per cent of journeys, and bicycles for 1.5 per cent.