Will Dockless e-Scooters Encourage Berlin Residents To Leave Cars Behind?

Berlin’s Senate Department for Environment, Transport and Climate Protection; micro mobility operator, Lime; and micro mobility charging company, Swiftmile are partnering on a dockless e-scooters pilot project to take place in a suburban borough. The goal of the pilot is to make e- scooters as attractive as possible for commuters traveling their “last mile” to their destination. 

“We are serious about our goal of getting even more Berliners to leave their cars behind. As a Berlin company, we want to do our part to improve mobility throughout the entire city, and are therefore investing heavily,” said Lime-Deutschland General Manager, Jashar Seyfi. “This includes the connection of suburbs, such as Berlin-Buch, with sustainable micro mobility to supplement the low density of surrounding public transport stops. This pilot project … is a fine example to show how a sustainable traffic turnaround can be achieved not only in city centres. The project is fully financed by our e-bike and e-scooter fleet in the city centre.”

The project will have a total of 30 e-scooters and three fixed charging stations, and will be evaluated after six months. Lime will provide anonymised data on the progress of the project and its impact on local businesses, and monitor demand to assess if additional charging stations need to be added.

“E-scooters can play an important role in the mobility transition: They are climate-friendly, quiet and, in the best case, serve routes that conveniently complement local transport—like here on the Buch campus, where employees will be able to travel to and from the S-Bahn on future commutes,” added Regine Günther, Senator for Environment, Transport and Climate Protection.