Berlin – Kristian Ronneburg wanted to promote dialogue, to promote cooperation – to steer the dispute about incorrectly parked electric scooters, rental bikes and car sharing cars in a different direction. But at the technical discussion on the planned regulation of the rental vehicle market, to which the Left MP had invited, the fronts could not be softened. Roland Stimpel from the Fachverband Fußverkehr Deutschlands, FUSS for short, criticized the “unscrupulous stupidity and anti-sociality” of many e-scooter users. He reiterated his call for strict restrictions so that sidewalks no longer degenerate into a “rest ramp” for parked rental vehicles. Representatives of the sharing industry replied how important their offers are for the targeted mobility transition. For the first time it became known that the sensitive issue could possibly end up in court. In the event that the Berlin Road Act is amended as planned, legal steps would be examined, it said.
If the announced change in the law continues, “we will fight back,” said Michael Fischer, who represents car sharing providers at the Berlin industry association Platform Shared Mobility (PSM). He did not go into detail, but according to information from the Berliner Zeitung, a lawsuit will be examined in the event that the amendment is actually passed. The industry representative was confident that the legal battle would end with a victory for the industry. Expert reports have “our fundamental point of view so far right,” said Fischer, who is also a spokesman for WeShare. The company, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, operates car sharing with 1,500 electric cars in Berlin.
Lawyers: Berlin is not at all responsible for the subject
As reported, the change in the law provides that the setting up of rental vehicles in Berlin will be classified as special use of the road, unlike today. A permit would then be required for this, whereby permits after a selection process can only be reserved for one company. That would mean: If you don’t win the tender, you have to leave the city. But that’s not all: In the future, the number of vehicles can be limited, and last but not least, fees for special use may be collected – according to the plan that the red-red-green coalition is promoting in Berlin.
Lawyers commissioned by the industry consider the amendment of the Berlin Road Act to be unlawful – even more: unconstitutional. The state of Berlin is not responsible for this issue at all, which violates the competencies in the Basic Law, according to a report that the law firm Redeker / Sellner / Dahs prepared on behalf of Share Now. The parking of car sharing vehicles is a “permit-free parking process under current federal law,” which the federal legislature has regulated. The fact that providers are not allowed to work in Berlin and the number of cars can be restricted is an interference with the freedom of occupation.
But there is also another legal assessment – which the Berlin lawyer Thomas Hiby from the team for the rights of disabled people, who was involved in the specialist discussion of the left on Thursday evening, considers to be more plausible. According to Hiby, who has been severely visually impaired since 2018, the setting up of sharing vehicles is not a common use, but in fact a special use of public roads. After all, it is about reaching a contract.
Customers should rent the parked vehicles, that is the heart of the matter, said the lawyer. “The priority is not parking, but offering.” He recalled that other cities had already imposed restrictions or were planning to do so. Milan has already banned e-scooters, and restrictive regulations are in force in Vienna, Hiby reported. The city of Paris, in turn, is considering withdrawing the licenses from the providers of electric scooters because the vehicles would be parked all over the place.
Incorrectly parked e-scooters are dangerous obstacles
“The basic right to freedom of occupation should not be ranked higher than the human right to physical integrity,” warned Manuela Myszka, the deputy chairwoman of the General Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABSV) Berlin. “For us, the turnaround in traffic is such that we can no longer dare to go out into the streets without an escort in Berlin.”
Again and again, incorrectly parked e-scooters that are standing around on sidewalks and stops turn out to be obstacles that can cause accidents. “The radius of movement of older people is getting smaller and smaller,” warned Helmut Probst from the Land Seniors’ Advisory Board – a body that represents the interests of almost a million Berliners. He criticized the “increasing pollution of the sidewalks” from parked rental vehicles.
“The state has lost control of the public space,” said Roland Stimpel from the FUSS pedestrian lobby. Today, sidewalks are “waste deserts of a non-ferrous bullerbus”. The planned amendment of the Berlin Road Act is a good and right one to take action against the privatization of the sidewalks, he said. The “illegal special use” must be ended.
If the vehicles are not parked on the lanes at rental stations, they should be taken to the junkyard immediately, Stimpel demanded. Heiner von Marschall from the Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) suggested that at least one parking space at every intersection should be rededicated as a parking space for sharing vehicles – this idea was also brought into play on Thursday by the Greens parliamentary group leader Antje Kapek.
Good sharing systems could help make it easier to switch from cars to other modes of transport, said the VCD country manager. But instead of in the city center, they should be offered where car ownership is concentrated: in the outskirts of Berlin. The Left MP Ronneburg once again brought up his proposal to publicly tender the installation of e-scooters, rental bikes and other vehicles of this type. Then the state of Berlin could enable shared mobility with grants even where the providers currently reject it due to a lack of profit opportunities.
Hearing in the House of Representatives in early August
“In certain areas of Berlin we will not be able to avoid tenders,” agreed industry representative Michael Fischer. Finally a consonance in the otherwise controversial discussion. The WeShare man affirmed that the providers want to enter into a dialogue with the Senate – which has not been possible so far.
At the beginning of August 2021, further debates are to be held in the Berlin state parliament. “Then there will be a hearing in the House of Representatives to amend the road law,” said Kristian Ronneburg. “We have an interest in making it a togetherness. The market should not be dead-regulated. ”But it is also clear that areas on Berlin’s streets must be distributed differently.
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