E-scooter and bicycle season kicks off in Kazan

A new e-scooter and bicycle season kicked off in Kazan on 5 April. The number of parking areas for personal vehicles increased to 2,00 in the city, while the total capacity is 20,000. Over 2,800 e-scooters were provided in Kazan streets last season, and nearly 40% of citizens used the service. During the season, Whoosh users rode around 3.5 million kilometres in the Tatarstan capital, said the press service of the company. MTS Urent service is also back from the winter break. According to the service, e-scooters’ speed will be reduced to 10 km/h and 15 km/h in some streets, crossroads, territories near schools and shopping malls. Besides this, the use of e-scooters on some highways and pedestrian sites will be fully prohibited. It is noteworthy that Yandex e-scooters and bicycles aren’t planned to appear on Kazan roads. However, Yandex.Drive car sharing service resumed its operations in Kazan.

Around 81% of all trips were performed according to a transport scenario last season — from public transport stops to residential quarters, shopping malls and business centres. The average duration of a trip was 15 minutes and 18 seconds.

However, not all Russian citizens are happy about e-scooters and bicycles in city streets. So, 59% of Kirov citizens are in favour of introducing restrictions for e-scooter riders — nearly 6 out of 10 Kirov residents supported the limitations. At the same time, women want some regulations more than men (69% and 49% respectively), says istochnik.online.

Also, Moscow CCTV cameras started to detect people violating e-scooter riding rules:

“The system was successfully tested before the start of the season. Now cameras with a neural network register dangerous actions and send information to rent operators. Law-breakers receive punishment, their accounts can be even blocked. If needed, the number of cameras will increase,” said Vice Mayor for Transport Affairs Maxim Liksutov.