Rome mayor hails success of electric scooters

22 Feb, 2021

Raggi says electric scooters are good for Rome but not everyone agrees.

In just seven months, more than 2.2 million journeys were made in Rome with electric scooters and bicycles operated under the city's sharing schemes, from June to December 2020.

This was announced by the mayor Virginia Raggi who hailed it as a "great result that is good for our city, which in this way can also compete with other European capitals in terms of sustainability."

Electric scooter sharing comes to Rome

Raggi highlighted that "in recent months more than 176,000 people" used electric scooters to get around the capital, after several private companies arrived on the scene last year with the mayor's enthusiastic support.

There are now more than "17,000 vehicles, including scooters and bicycles, available to citizens and tourists," said Raggi, in a sector that "gives work to many people and families."

Rome's electric scooter races at night

While the numbers prove the success of electric scooters, the vehicles are not without their critics, as evident from the sea of negative comments by Romans under the mayor's Facebook post.

Testaccio, February 2021. Photo Wanted in Rome.

Many people highlighted the danger posed by the e-scooters, both to users and pedestrians, questioning how many traffic accidents have been caused by the electric vehicles since their arrival on the city's streets.

Milan removes electric scooters blocking pavements

Some commentators highlighted the everyday sight of users (illegally) carrying passengers, travelling at speed on sidewalks or in the wrong direction on streets, and the anti-social "parking" of scooters blocking pavements.

Electric scooters recently made the news in Florence after an order by the mayor obliging users to wear helmets was overturned by the courts.

Cover photo Colosseum, July 2020. Photo Wanted in Rome.