Last summer, Skellefteå municipality put up parking signs around town, showing where e-scooters could park.
Bird had 150 electric scooters for rent in Skellefteå this summer. In October, however, the company announced that they were winding down their operations in Sweden. The reason was the new regulations that were introduced in September, which, among other things, made it illegal to drive on footpaths and to park on footpaths and cycle paths.
"The Swedish regulatory framework is not built for electric scooter operators to be able to offer high-quality services," the company wrote in a press release.
Companies that want to rent electric scooters in Skellefteå must sign an agreement with guidelines that the municipality has established. The guidelines regulate, among other things, where the electric scooters may be driven and parked. In the agreement that applied last year, it was also stated that a total of 300 electric scooters may be rented out in Skellefteå, with a maximum of 150 per company.
When Norran talks to Robert Nyman, operations manager for traffic at Skellefteå municipality, he says that it will probably be the same agreement that applies this year as well.
– Nothing has probably changed.
He also says that another company has shown interest in renting out electric scooters this summer.
– They have called and checked how the rental market works here in town, what the rules are and so on.
However, no concrete application has yet been received.
– No, it is up to them to do so: unless they do, we have nothing to actually decide on, says Nyman.