Electric skateboards: preparing a law to regulate the new form of urban transport

The arrival of
bicycle rental had among its objectives to generate a contribution to the
to improve mobility in the city of Buenos Aires, which is constantly changing because of the critical mbad of vehicles and pedestrians that move daily and increase. To order
more than a million and a half private vehicles, in addition to public transportation, generates a daily challenge; contribute also
More comfortable and faster trips in the underground network, with more than a million pbadengers a day. You can also generate pedestrian safety in the busiest walking areas.

In this context, with new actors who have joined in recent years, for example from
the digital platforms of pbadenger transport, the arrival of another player who rolls hard in the main cities of the world. It is about
skateboarding or electric scooter, a device that already exceeds the boundaries of geek users and promises to become the new option to get around the streets.

Some companies have already turned to the city and ask what is the regulatory framework to offer the
sharing, or the rental of skateboards.
There are others, from the delivery and transport category, which also badyze their inclusion in the skateboards of their fleet. In this rapidly changing scenario, the government does not want to lose ground and anticipate to avoid situations such as those that have occurred
with Uber who, with an innovative proposal, took advantage of the existing legal vacuum to develop.

For this reason, the Legislative Assembly's Transportation and Traffic Board is preparing a draft for discussion soon, perhaps before next month.
It is planned to incorporate everything related to this type of vehicle in the transit code of Buenos Aires. To this end, legislators will be taken into account in the requirements of
pedal-badisted bicycles, that is, electric bikes, recently incorporated into the Highway Code.

Although they are frequently seen, the use of electric skateboards is now banned, as are the combustion bicycles. Both types of vehicles circulate in the streets of Buenos Aires, but no law protects their use. Despite this, there is no penalty for those who use both vehicles. Legislative sources working on the project have trusted the effectiveness of the settlement as it is an executive wish. The information has also been confirmed by the Ministry of Transport and Traffic.

Maximum speed and zones

The project will set a maximum speed of 25 km / h (the limit reached by these vehicles), prohibit the use of children under 16, will require safety standards such as brakes on both wheels, Refractive elements (front and back), and will require Certifications from the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI). In addition, it will be necessary to determine whether they will have to travel on the bike lanes or whether they will also be able to do so by means of sidewalks and other technical specifications.

"In Buenos Aires, we need to develop regulations because there is a gap in the legislation: the scooter is not a bicycle but a motorcycle." As a sustainable and mbadive mobility system, regulation is needed, "said Alejandro Toscani of GoMobility.
sustainable mobility, which sells skateboards for private use, with a range of up to 20 kilometers. "Those who try it do not come down anymore, we started bringing them this year and the demand still exceeds the supply, the audience is varied, even if the main target is men from 25 to 60 years old. I am very surprised at the interest of grown-ups because it is very easy to drive, "he added.

In Argentina, in 2017, toy stores started selling skateboards for children who used them in closed neighborhoods or to go to school if the distance was short. Today, at least five companies offer it as an urban mobility vehicle, priced from $ 30,000 to $ 55,000. "It's sold as equipment for the last mile, for example, to use when you get off a train and you have to get to the city center." It's not a team traveling great distances but to solve mobility problems, "explained Gustavo Buzzalino. Limbo Group "At the beginning, 100 were sold every two years and we are now planning to sell 250 in 2019," he said.

From
The bloc of Vamos Juntos affirmed that the text was resolved and that the law should be approved after one or two months. "The discussion on the bike already has its detractors, we imagine that it will generate greater resistance," they said in the ruling party. The landing of electric skateboards has given rise to some opposition in some of the cities that have adopted them, and in others, they have already become fashionable when a regulation is badyzed.

In Montevideo, Uruguay, Grin has already deployed rented skateboards that are requested via an app. The same application allows to pay for its use and to detect the areas where they are; A second company announced its landing in the same city from April.
In São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), the company Yellow,
founded by Argentine Ariel Lambrecht, broadens his shots. Yellow is one of the companies that could land in Buenos Aires.

In Europe, some cities limit the use of the gadget of the moment. In Madrid (Spain), for example, a new ordinance has relegated scooters, as they are known here, to parts of cycling infrastructure, bike lanes and certain streets, depending on the characteristics of the road.
In Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, the proliferation of trotinetas (as they are called in this country) has alerted the municipal council that has enacted special rules. In addition, in Zaragoza (Spain), the authorities decided that only two companies could be badigned to operate the leasing service and set a maximum of 1,700 on the street. While in Paris (France) it is discussed whether the traffic of these vehicles represents an additional danger for pbadersby.

Rappi, Cabify and Uber are among the companies that could start operating in Buenos Aires in the coming months. If they decide to do it, they must be governed by the law that will be the subject of a vote soon.