People from Alkmaar have been able to sharing scooters. You see the green electric 45 km/h scooters appearing in more and more places in the city. The landlord is very satisfied with how things are going: “Each scooter is shared almost 2 times a day.” But not everyone is equally happy with the shared scooters that are just ‘crashed down’ everywhere.
Go Sharing is very satisfied with the first month in Alkmaar. “There are 4,700 Alkmaar residents who have downloaded the app,” says spokesperson Lloyd Drop. “With 5,650 rentals so far, each scooter has been used about 1.9 times a day. In other cities it was 1.5 times in the start-up period. Our goal is that each vehicle is shared 2 times a day.”
Nuisance
But there is also a downside to the hundreds of scooters that have been coloring the Alkmaar streets for a month. Photos of incorrectly parked, dumped and destroyed scooters are shared on social media.
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First month of scooter sharing in Alkmaar – NH Nieuws/ Anne Klijnstra
“They drive over sidewalks, park them recklessly and I have already seen them in the canal and ditch,” says an Alkmaar woman. And an entrepreneur at Alkmaar Noord station regularly has to tow several green scooters because they have been parked in front of him.
“Very annoying, and not a small job,” he says. “You can only move forward a meter before it fires the alarm.” And last Friday, five share scooter drivers stopped by the policeincluding someone who had continued to drive after a collision.
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Haarlem, Beverwijk, Zandvoort, Haarlemmermeer and Hilversum preceded Alkmaar. As the sixth city in North Holland, GO Sharing also succeeded in obtaining a permit for a two-year trial. Now there are 150 scooters, that will be 200 with another 150 e-bikes.
136 complaints
Go Sharing knows the nuisance stories and hopes to keep them to a minimum. “There were 136 complaints from Alkmaar in the first month. We use a ‘learning process’ for users who make a mistake. First they receive a warning, then a fine of 75 euros, and the account is blocked a third time. “
“We have determined zones with the municipality where the scooters may be parked. For example, this is not allowed in the center. That is also not possible in the app. You can also park where you can also park a bicycle, you must adhere to the the applicable laws and regulations, and of course you don’t place it along a guideway for the blind or on a narrow sidewalk.”
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Local council
There are also concerns about shared scooters in the city council. For example, the decision to grant a permit was not discussed with the council, “and we have therefore not been able to influence how we want to fit those scooters into the municipality”, explains VVD councilor Christiaan Peetoom.
“Take the parking nuisance, for example. That is very annoying, especially for people with a physical disability. We propose to set up permanent places where those scooters can stand.” Together with three other political parties, the VVD has therefore put questions to the council of mayor and aldermen.
The municipality says that those questions will be discussed next Tuesday. Before that time, the questions that NH Nieuws has asked about the scooters will not be answered either.
Evaluation
A day later, Go Sharing has the first evaluation moment with the college. “We hope for a positive outcome, but also for constructive points. How can we make it better? That it connects better with the city itself.”
The idea of permanent parking spaces is not embraced by Go Sharing. “We see that residents do not want to walk longer than three or four minutes for a shared scooter. The moment it is longer, customers fall back on their cars, and we are no longer a good alternative. And that is exactly what we want: people from get their car.”
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