Electric bicycles, hoverboards, and electric scooters are increasingly common on our streets; so much so that the Spanish Government approved in November 2020 a decree with new measures for the circulation of these personal mobility vehicles (VMPs) in urban environments.
These new alternatives for city travel form what we call micromobility in our sector and offer us efficient and environmentally friendly mobility. Furthermore, personal mobility vehicles are the perfect allies for bringing users closer to public transport stops and stations, encouraging them to leave their private cars in the garage.
In this post, we analyze the new forms of mobility we live with, highlighting their main advantages and recalling some of the rules for their use in public spaces.
Electric bicycles, scooters, and micro-cars: micromobility has arrived
Many of you will be familiar with electric bicycles or electric scooters but may not know the concept of micromobility. Micromobility encompasses new electric alternatives for mobility, including electric scooters or e-scooters, hoverboards, and electric bicycles. These are small, light, and low-speed means of transport, used only for short-distance travel. They are known as personal mobility vehicles or VMPs.
Greater popularization of these vehicles would help considerably reduce the use of combustion engine vehicles in the city. According to the consultancy and lab B4motion, an expert in mobility, most city trips are less than 5 km, a distance that a micromobility solution could easily cover at almost the same speed as a car.
Likewise, VMPs are known as ‘first and last mile’ vehicles due to their function of connecting people with public transport stations or stops. This is what we call intermodality.
On many occasions, citizens choose to travel in their private vehicle instead of using public transport because they live far from stops or stations. With a VMP at their disposal, citizens can quickly travel from their homes to the stations where they can catch the bus or train to their place of study or work. The return journey home from the station is also quicker by VMP than by car, reducing road congestion.
Another micromobility solution that solves the first and last mile is the electric micro-car, which currently has less implementation in Spain than VMPs, although they are already widely used in foreign countries like China and are increasingly in demand in Europe. These electric micro-cars are fantastic allies for promoting intermodality in cities: due to their size, they can be parked almost anywhere, have a range of around 150 km, and depending on their power, can reach speeds between 45 and 90 km/h.
There is another alternative for city travel that, along with VMPs and electric micro-cars, facilitates connected mobility: carsharing, a service that allows cars to be rented by the minute or hour. Something very positive for the environment is that many carsharing companies only rent electric vehicles.
VMPs and other increasingly popular micromobility options like electric micro-cars help citizens reduce their carbon footprint, accelerating the process towards sustainable mobility.
Advantages of new forms of urban mobility
The advantages of micromobility are quite numerous and interesting:
- As they are means of transport powered by electricity, they contribute to reducing CO2 emissions. According to data from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), if the use of electric bicycles increased by 11%, we would achieve a 7% reduction in CO2 emissions (generated by urban travel) by 2030.
- The possibility they offer of bringing travelers closer to bus and train stations encourages the use of public transport.
- If more people used VMPs for short distances, urban congestion would be alleviated.
- These new forms of mobility also help make cities safer and quieter spaces.
What do you think of these benefits? Do you think it’s worth investing in electric micro-cars or VMPs for short distances in the city?
For the number of people switching from cars to e-scooters, electric bikes, or similar options to increase, institutions and municipal governments must also invest in micromobility. How can they do this? By offering citizens a public fleet of electric bicycles or other VMPs, enabling charging stations for the batteries of these electric vehicles, preparing parking areas for these new forms of urban mobility, and signaling how their circulation in the city should be…
Because yes, as indicated by Royal Decree 970/2020, of November 10, 2020, VMP users must comply with a series of rules and duties so that these vehicles coexist harmoniously with buses, combustion engine vehicles, and pedestrians.
Rules for Personal Mobility Vehicles
The decree approved in November 2020 with new urban traffic measures defines personal mobility vehicles as “vehicles with one or more wheels equipped with a single seat and propelled exclusively by electric motors that can provide the vehicle with a maximum design speed between 6 and 25 km/h. They can only be equipped with a seat or saddle if they are equipped with a self-balancing system. Vehicles without a self-balancing system and with a saddle, vehicles designed for competition, or vehicles for people with reduced mobility are excluded from this definition.”
The most commonly used VMPs in Spain are Segway-type vehicles, hoverboards, electric scooters, and electric bicycles (yes, a compliant electric bicycle must have a nominal motor of no more than 250 W and reach a maximum speed of 25 km/h; otherwise, it would be considered a moped and its use would be regulated by other road safety rules).
Precisely to ensure this road safety, VMPs must also comply with a series of traffic rules, just like other vehicles. In the case of personal mobility vehicles:
- They are prohibited from circulating on sidewalks and pedestrian areas.
- They cannot circulate on bypasses, interurban roads, highways within built-up areas, or urban tunnels.
- They cannot exceed a speed of 25 km/h.
- VMP drivers are obliged to undergo tests to detect alcohol and drug levels.
- They cannot be driven with headphones or while using a mobile phone.
- The number of people transported in a VMP cannot exceed the number of authorized seats.
- At night or in conditions of poor visibility, the VMP must have some form of lighting, or the driver must wear reflective clothing or items that make them visible to other drivers.
Failure to comply with any of these rules carries significant financial penalties.
Some issues, such as the minimum age to drive a Personal Mobility Vehicle, the need for a helmet, or the obligation to have insurance, have not been regulated by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), thus remaining under the discretion of each local administration.
Were you aware of all this information about personal mobility vehicles, electric micro-cars, or carsharing? At Castrosua, we believe that micromobility brings us much closer to the sustainable mobility that the automotive sector aspires to. The combined use of micromobility solutions and public transport that also tends towards electrification is the most responsible future for urban mobility. Shall we all give these new vehicles a chance? We want to know your opinion!
