New measures to be taken for scooters in Istanbul

Within the scope of Istanbul's new action plan for scooters, 1,500 parking spaces will be established throughout the city, and those who leave their scooters in the parking areas will receive a discount.

Istanbul Municipality's Deputy-Secretary General Buğra Gökçe announced that they prepared a new action plan to facilitate the use of scooters and reduce the problems caused by irregular parking.

The first step within the framework of the new action plan is to determine locations for the new 1,500 parking spaces, which will be done by district municipalities, and scooter operators will contribute to the construction.

If scooter users park in these areas, they will not be charged the opening fee corresponding to a 10 to 15 percent discount.

Urban centers with heavy pedestrian traffic will be defined as "sensitive areas," and the speed limit in these areas will be set at 12.5 km/h. Users will be trained by operators every two months.

All operators will regularly share e-scooter usage data with the municipality's Transportation Department. Operators' mobile applications will also be integrated with Istanbulkart, a contactless smart card for fare payment on public transport in the city.

In addition, "e-scooter commissions" will be established in the districts. District municipalities, operators and Istanbul Municipality will act in coordination. The commission will meet once a month.

In the process, more solutions will be developed to ensure scooters' full integration with public transportation.

Previously, Kadıköy Municipality announced that it would collect scooters blocking pedestrian paths within the district borders. In January, when the scooters not parked in designated areas were collected, the move yielded...