The increased presence of electronic scooters in São Paulo since last year has brought a new way to move through the city focused on small distance. But with it also came complaints from pedestrians who are now fighting with the scooters for use of the sidewalks.
“I have already seen a woman on crutches having to dodge the scooters,” complained Sabrina Baller, 35.
A 2013 Contran (National Council of Transit) federal resolution said that scooters are permitted to circulate only in areas designated for pedestrians and cyclists.
For specialists, federal regulation doesn’t apply to this new phenomenon of scooters.
In São Paulo, there are already more people using Yellow and Grin scooters than riding bikes, according to a study by the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Traffic Safety.
The city of São Paulo is studying how to impose rules in this sector, but it still doesn’t have an official view on how to regulate it.
Grow, a combined company of Yellow and Grin, is exploring a regulation system and said that the city has not authorized the company to install suitable transportation lanes while it is still studying how to regulate the industry.
“The company is against the use of scooters on sidewalks. But the current regulation says that they can be used here. The user is using the sidewalk because of a lack of infrastructure, which always focused on the car,” said Marcelo Loureiro, head of Grow in Brazil.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon