City of Helsinki proposes licence for e-scooter and e-bikes

The City of Helsinki has prepared a micromobility licence proposal for electric scooters and bicycles in shared use.

The proposal, to be presented to the Urban Environment Committee on 18 November, would extend the current parking restriction area from the city centre to the neighbourhoods of Töölö and Pasila. The licence requirement in the new legislation will replace the current voluntary agreement.

Shared electric scooters

The key change in the proposal relates to the parking restriction zones, which will be implemented by geofencing. The City and micromobility operators have previously agreed that shared electric scooters can only be parked in the parking zones reserved for them in the city centre and around train and metro stations. This means that the GPS of the scooter prevents any parking outside these zones.

Beginning next spring, the restricted area would cover almost the entire city centre up to Töölö and Pasila. In addition, the new restricted areas will be assigned around train stations, for instance.

“The micromobility system has been developed actively and will continue to be developed in this new licence system”

The parking restriction zone in the city centre was piloted with operators in 2023, with additional zones added in 2024. The City reports it received good feedback on the restriction zones, and the new licence conditions take into account this feedback and experiences with these zones.

Smaller no-parking zones have also been proposed in other areas of Helsinki, such as near schools and daycare centres. These licence terms applied to parking aim to especially improve accessibility and the premises of maintenance operations. The dialogue regarding the licence conditions focused, in particular, on consulting the most vulnerable groups, like organisations of disabled and elderly people and public authorities.