Brussels to provide 3.000 drop zones for shared e-scooters

There will be an end to the nuisance and the uncontrolled proliferation of shared e-scooters lying around in the Brussels Region. Some 3 000 parking spaces or drop zones are going to be created. The distribution between the municipalities has been decided in the meantime. Brussels City would get 681 drop zones. The number of shared e-scooters currently used in the Brussels Region is estimated at 23 000.

Paris will hold a referendum in April on whether or not to ban shared e-scooters, while for others the devices are the very solution to the mobility problem and CO2 emissions in many big cities.

Problem of wild parking

In Brussels, too, the debate between supporters and opponents of shared e-scooters has been raging for some time. The numerous users of this mode of transport often shoot themselves in the foot because often they leave the e-scooters carelessly lying around on the pavement or the public road after use, thus endangering the safety of other road users.

To try to put an end to this shortcoming, Brussels Mobility says all Brussels municipalities will now be equipped with drop zones. Brussels Mobility itself has identified the regional roads where the drop zones will be located, based on calculations by a study agency.

1 000 drop zones this summer

Currently, Brussels Mobility has already created around 100 drop zones on regional roads. According to the office of Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen), they expect to equip public roads with another 1 000 drop zones this summer.

The drop zones will, in principle, not be placed on pavements, but they will rather try to use the available spaces before and after pedestrian crossings. This prevents cars from parking there and improves the visibility of pedestrians.

Still waiting for implementation decree

Less than a year ago, the Brussels Parliament approved an ordinance regulating the compulsory parking of shared e-scooters, bikes, and mopeds. The implementing orders, which are now before the Council of State for its opinion, should be there in the coming weeks, allowing them to be finally approved by the government before the summer.

Pending that final decision, Brussels municipalities could already apply for subsidies to install drop zones, while others are going to install them at their own expense. But according to Brussels Mobility, all municipalities will receive drop zones, even if they have not submitted a subsidy file. The funding will be divided among the different municipalities, according to the available resources.