From now on, there should be an end to the random, disorderly parking of e-scooters on streets and squares in downtown Frankfurt.

As in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, the current five providers in Frankfurt have had to apply for a special use permit for each individual e-scooter.

According to the traffic department, they want to provide a total of around 20,000 scooters throughout the city.

A maximum of 5,000, i.e. 1,000 per provider, may be made available by the operators in the extended inner city area at locations that have been precisely agreed in advance with the city.

Mechthild Harting

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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What is more important for users is that in future they will only be able to return the e-scooters to designated parking areas.

"If you don't do that, the clock keeps ticking," which would then be expensive, according to the traffic department.

However, the city has so far only designated one such area on Baseler Strasse.

More are to be marked on Berliner Strasse in the next few days.

The next step, according to the department, is to look at the area surrounding the Zeil pedestrian zone and the areas around the underground stations, where experience has shown that many e-scooters have been parked so far.

E-scooters in normal parking lots

Reserving areas in the city center as parking spaces for e-scooters will not be easy.

"That's the real challenge," admits Stefan Majer (Die Grünen), head of the mobility department.

After all, public space is limited and a large number of uses have to be taken into account anyway.

Majer asks the people of Frankfurt to understand that the expulsion and marking "will take a long time".

As in other cities, the permanent parking spaces for e-scooters will probably be created on existing parking spaces in the street space.

Once they have been set up, the requirement applies that no further e-scooters may be parked within a radius of 100 meters around the area.

Despite the fact that these parking spaces are only being made available gradually, Majer is convinced that, in consultation with the operators, we have found a regulation "with which we can take effective action against the chaos on Frankfurt's streets and squares".

So far, only "wild growth" has ruled the streets and squares, says the head of department.

With the special use permit, the rental companies have committed themselves to complying with additional rules.

The providers have to set up a 24-hour hotline to accept complaints, be it by phone or email.

There are also numerous regulations that specify where the e-scooters may not be parked.

These rules apply not only to the inner city, but to the entire urban area.

In addition, the providers must point out to the users that they may not endanger or hinder third parties with the scooters.

Zones for renting scooters

In future, a tenancy may only be started and ended in agreed zones.

In the future, it will be impossible to start or conclude the rental agreement in pedestrian zones, on the Main and other road bridges, in parks and green areas, on tree grates and on the green median.

The same applies to forest, nature and landscape protection areas, playgrounds and cemeteries.

The special use permit, which came into force on Monday, is initially valid for six months.

Then, according to the department, they want to see whether adjustments need to be made.

The providers had to pay 30 euros per scooter for the special use permit.

Criticism of former Minister Scheuer

City Councilor Majer blames former Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) for the fact that a “wild west situation” has prevailed, especially in the city center.

In June 2019, he approved the e-scooters without any regulation, so that the scooters could be parked and rented anywhere in the city.

According to the Greens politician, the fact that the municipalities “were not given any instruments to regulate the situation” has been a “great annoyance” in recent years, both for the citizens and for the administration.

It was only when, in the case of the city of Düsseldorf in November 2020, a court clarified that parking the e-scooters was a special use that required permission, was the city of Frankfurt also able to start negotiating regulations with the operators.