Dubai may allow personal e-scooters, mopeds

Eudore R. Chand

DUBAI 10 June 2021: Heads of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Police held a meeting to discuss operations of e-scooters, mopeds and street-lighting.

Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, RTA Director-General, Chairman, and Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, discussed the latest developments related to the proposed regulatory model for operating e-scooters, and mopeds together with the RTA’s street-lighting plan in various districts between 2022 and 2025.

Attendees studied the key elements of regulating the operation of the shared and personalised e-scooter to be introduced shortly. Discussions focused on four key elements:

  1. The user
  2. The e-scooter
  3. The road, and
  4. The commercial model to be provided by operators

The meeting reviewed the results of the trials of the e-scooter rolled out in October 2020. Currently, there are about 800 e-scooters in operation within five key districts. These are

  1. Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard,
  2. Jumeirah Lakes,
  3. Dubai Internet City,
  4. Al Riqqa and Al Muraqqabat, and
  5. 2nd of December Street (designated lanes and range)

It was reported that the experimental deployment of e-scooters had proved successful for short-journey individual mobility as well as the first and last-mile journeys. The satisfaction rating of the experiment was 82 percent.

The meeting discussed preparations for the permanent operation of e-scooters across the emirate once the trials were completed. Aspects reviewed included selecting the best model that suits Dubai and benefitting from the deliverables of the trial run phase as well as the expertise of major cities in this regard. The meeting discussed the benchmark of operating of e-scooters in a host of metropolitan cities such as London, Paris, New York, Berlin and Singapore. The study highlighted the different objectives underlying the operation of e-scooters in those cities such as easing congestion or providing new mobility means.

The meeting also discussed the districts proposed for the upcoming trial run in October 2021.

The two parties discussed RTA’s street-lighting plan from 2022 to 2025 in several areas of Dubai. The plan envisages carrying out yearly street-lighting works in 45 districts across the Emirate. It covers lighting streets extending 97 kilometres (km) in 12 districts in 2022, 105km in 15 districts in 2023, 100km in 13 districts in 2024, and 85km in 5 districts in 2025.

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