Sharing vehicles ranging from small cars to vans, bicycles, cargo bikes, e-scooters and e-scooters are available in Bonn. However, non-station-based rental vehicles (so-called free-floating vehicles) in particular, and especially e-scooters and bicycles, are sometimes parked by some users in such a way that they obstruct or even endanger others. The city hopes that the use of the management solution MIAAS (Mobility Intelligence as a Service) will give it more opportunities to intervene in the interests of the general public. The system should also enable standardized and efficient communication between cities and mobility providers.
As a basis for improvements, the application developed by Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences is primarily intended to process the data provided by the sharing providers and make it usable for the city. This will not only provide the city's road traffic authority with real-time information on the exact locations of all vehicles, but also, for the first time ever, an overview of how many vehicles from each provider are represented in Bonn and how they are distributed throughout the city. This was previously not possible because the city did not have any data on the locations and number of non-station-based rental vehicles.
Areas within the city have already been defined with e-scooter providers in which the rental process cannot be technically completed and the vehicle therefore cannot be parked. Among other things, the city prevents e-scooters from being left behind in pedestrian zones, the Rheinaue or on the banks of the Rhine. With the help of MIAAS, the city wants to identify other places where parked e-scooters cause problems and also define these as no-parking zones.
The data can also be used to define special parking areas in places that are particularly frequented by users or in areas with narrow sidewalks where there is no space. Both - no-parking zones and parking zones - can be set up not only permanently but also temporarily, for example in connection with major construction sites or large events in the urban area.
The city can exchange regulatory information such as this with providers automatically via MIAAS, making it easier and faster than before. The providers, in turn, can call up data such as no-parking zones or transmit data on newly registered vehicles.
Special usage fees for free-floating vehicles
Registration of the vehicles was not previously required by law, but is now necessary. After administrative courts in various federal states, including NRW, recently ruled that the parking of rental vehicles in the free-floating model in public traffic areas constitutes special use, the city will probably also charge special use fees to providers of non-station-based rental vehicles from the spring. The necessary amendment to the special use statutes has already been politically approved.
The city will now treat the parking of these rental vehicles on public roads in the same way as station-based car sharing as a special use subject to a fee, which must be applied for by the providers. The regulation applies to all rental vehicles previously offered in Bonn without a station: bicycles, cargo bikes, e-scooters, e-scooters, cars and vans. In this context, the city is also currently examining conditions and requirements that should help to ensure that disruptive parking occurs less frequently in future.