The sustainable mobility advocacy group Rota has told The Malta Independent that it is open to rental e-scooters returning to the Maltese islands if they are brought back into the country "under clear rules and proper infrastructure."

Rota acknowledged that the ban on rental e-scooters was motivated by "widespread problems with pavement clutter, safety and inadequate operational rules," though it said that these rental vehicles can be very useful.

"Rental e-scooters can be a useful micro-mobility tool if reintroduced under clear rules and proper infrastructure," Rota declared.

Hence, the NGO listed four conditions that it believes must be met if these previously popular rental vehicles are to ever make a comeback: re-introducing rental e-scooters in conjunction with a clear regulatory framework, operational requirements for operators, integration with infrastructure, and phased pilots with clear KPIs.

The first condition that must be met to consider their re-introduction is establishing a clear regulatory framework. Rota said that this involves defining set speed limits, parking rules, and liability rules for when some sort of contravention is committed.

After rental e-kick scooters quickly caught on across Malta and Gozo a few years ago, Malta decided to ban these rental vehicles from the country on 1 March 2024 to relieve communities and residents of the disturbances they caused. Oftentimes, scooters were left haphazardly on the public pavements of touristic areas as scooter riders very often struggled to find dedicated parking bays to park their rented e-scooters at the end of their ride.

This rental ban had forced e-scooter lovers to purchase one as a registered private vehicle of their own if they wished to continue using one.

This ban was announced nearly six months prior to its date of effect, in mid-October 2023, by the Transport Ministry. In its announcement, the Ministry stated that the decision to ban rental e-scooters was taken "to promote responsible e-kick scooter usage and reduce inconvenience for communities and people."

When this ban was declared, appropriate infrastructure and regulations to cater for these popular short-distance rental vehicles were still lacking. This ban was made public before the government had even introduced designated parking bays for these rental e-scooters - by that point, only a successful pilot project in San Ġwann came out from this.

In the summer of 2023, the largest company overseeing these rental vehicles had recorded some 15,000 daily e-scooter rides per day of that year's hottest period. Amidst this high usage, local authorities amped up enforcement on e-scooters; nearly 11,000 fines were handed out by police for e-scooter contraventions in 2023, with 2,954 fines issued in Sliema alone, and 2,137 issued in St. Julians in the same year.

Rota's second condition - "operational requirements for operators" - makes reference to geofencing, having mandatory parking docks or designated parking bays (to avoid pavement clutter), and minimum maintenance/inspection standards. The NGO stated that it had recommended a docked system when rental e-scooters were first proposed and explained that "a docked or hybrid model (docked hubs + supervised parking) reduces pavement blocking and improves predictability."

The remaining conditions needed to come in if Malta had to formally bring back rental e-scooters without the issues experienced some two years ago are implementing "safe cycling/scooter lanes and contraflows" as well as "phased pilots with clear KPIs" for safety incidents and proper parking rates before their revisited full commercial rollout.

In a series of questions related to the government's strategies to promote sustainable mobility, the C-SAM network, reduce the share of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, i.e., vehicles that run on either petrol or diesel, and on the general transport infrastructure for the country's growing population, this newsroom asked the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works whether the government is considering lifting the ban on rental e-kick scooters once the C-SAM network has been completed in the coming years, or whether this is not on the cards at all. In its response, the Transport Ministry did not make any reference to rental e-scooters making a potential comeback or on the present status quo for these alternative vehicles changing.

While it did not acknowledge the possibility of rental e-scooters returning to Malta and Gozo, the Ministry for Transport noted that the Scooter Shift Grant will be introduced next year. This measure will allow drivers to renounce their car and driving licence for four years, and in return, shift to a scooter and receive €6,000 over that period. A similar scheme will also be set up for 17-year-olds to delay attaining their driving licence till they're at least 21 years of age, offering them the same conditions.