Legal framework for freefloating micromobility

By project SMAPE

Published on 22 January 2025

Belgium

Prov. Namur

About this good practice

Free-floating micromobility is a service where vehicles are made available to users on the public highway and where the start and end of the rental period is not restricted to reserved parkings spots. It has many positive impacts. It partly solves accessibility problems (first and last miles), it helps to solve congestion problems and is a good way of introducing the benefits of active mobility to users. But it can also have mixed impacts. Those can be related to the parking of vehicles which sometimes impede traffic, to vandalism on vehicles or to their relatively short lifespan. This context showed that it was necessary to regulate these services. To regulate those services (operating since 2018) Wallonia adopted a decree (law) on 08/07/2021 which specifies the role of the Region and the municipalities. The Government is responsible for setting the conditions for obtaining a licence which is mandatory to operate the services. They include: technical characteristics, sustainable and environmental conditions, providing data,... The operators do not have to pay any fee to get a license. Walloon municipalities are free to set individual operating conditions related to vehicle parking, noise emissions, the min. or max. concentration of vehicles in the area and their distribution, speed limits,... The region ensures that the general criterias of the service are respected, while the municipality can define more specific operating elements adapted to the features of its area.

Resources needed

No financial resources
Regional staff: 1 day/file for license analysis
Municipal staff: create/update conditions, ensure compliance
Collaborated with other regions for insights
Internal info exchange for consistency
Since Decree adopted July 2021: 2.5 years to issue first licenses

Evidence of success

This has made it possible to develop specific drop-off zones where this was necessary, depending on the municipality. It has put all operators on an equal footing in terms of market access conditions. The new framework has not become a barrier that makes the territory less attractive to operators : 5 operators have received licences (we had 3 before). We have now 3000 e-scooters and 100 e-bike. We estimate that 93.39 tonnes of CO2 are saved each year thanks to those freefloating fleets.

Potential for learning or transfer

This practice is valuable for other regions as it balances innovation with regulation, ensuring free-floating micromobility remains accessible while addressing challenges like parking and vandalism. Key success factors include a clear division of responsibilities between regional and municipal authorities and the flexibility for municipalities to adapt rules. The non-restrictive licensing process encourages operator participation, (increase from 3 to 5 operators). Regulation of the sector goes hand in hand with consultation and involvement of all stakeholders, ensuring frameworks are created in good understanding. In 2022, we began organising ‘shared mobility workshops’ to create an ecosystem with all stakeholders. We still regularly seek feedback to co-construct and improve this framework.A similar framework was first implemented in Brussels before being transposed to Wallonia.