The Parisians recently voted to get e-scooters off their tiny cobbled streets. Now, the scooters aren’t headed for the dump, but to Berlin. Exciting!

Paris’ electric scooters may be on their way to Berlin

If Berliners could wish for one thing to make their city thrive, it would, beyond a shadow of a doubt, be a fresh fleet of e-scooters.

Well, just their luck! Since the Parisians decided that they are over e-scooters - which will be banned in the French capital from September 1 - scooter companies have been pondering where to invade next. So far, Berlin is proving a hot candidate, with e-scooter company Tier mulling over sending 5.000 of their 5-Scooter models to replace the 4-Scooter model currently available in the German city.

One of many e-scooter providers in the city, Tier alone has 13.000 vehicles available in Berlin. In total, there are 47.000 on the streets. 

Will Berlin follow the French? 

But once Tier’s turquoise scooters set down their two wheels on the Berlin tarmac, will their days be numbered? 

Since CSU Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer gave the green light to rental scooters in the city back in 2019, public animosity toward the vehicles has only grown as the scooter population rapidly increased. The scooters are now so omnipresent that a 2022 study by the Pedestrian Lobby Association revealed that Berliners stumble upon an abandoned e-scooter or rental bike every 77 metres in the capital.

A hazard for the visually impaired and causing an increasing number of accidents each year, many cities across Europe are trying to get their e-scooter situation under control, but for the Germans going French doesn’t seem like an option either due to nationwide regulation.

In the meantime, Berlin will trial parking areas for the scooters so that fewer people dump them wherever they please. The Berlin Senate Department has said that 150 such parking areas will be installed in the city by the end of 2023.

Thumb image credit: Victor Velter / Shutterstock.com