CATANIA – Catania also wants to launch the shared rental service for electric scooters. The Municipal Administration has in fact published the notice of expression of interest to seek economic operators interested in submitting an offer to the negotiated procedure, for the assignment of the free floating sharing mobility service with electric scooters in the territory of city.
In line with current experiences on car sharing and bike sharing, the latter being re-launched in the next few days by the AMT, the Municipality promotes sustainable mobility by providing for the extension of these forms of “collective use” to electric scooters as well. This is the realization of the initiative approved last January by the Pogliese council, on the proposal of the councilor for mobility Pippo Arcidiacono, in which it was established that the fleet must consist of a minimum of 300 to a maximum of 1000 scooters, possibly incrementable.
The service you intend to start, presumably in about two months, at the conclusion of the market survey procedures, it concerns the management of a system of electric scooters, equipped with an on-board interface with a digital management system and functioning even in the absence of fixed positions in public areas for the hospitalization of scooters and guaranteed seven days a week, including holidays. In the notice of search of operators to manage the service, the deadline for the submission of the call for proposals expires on 11 May.
The municipal administration, in keeping with the most advanced experiences, it has provided that the scooters are equipped with a geo-referencing system capable of delimiting the area of ​​activation of the service, with an automatic limitation mechanism in the areas identified by the Municipal Administration, for the reduced speed.
The digital localization system it must also guarantee rapid booking up to the time of use of the device, or the same, if free, to drive even without a reservation. Operators must also activate a call center, which can be contacted both by telephone and with a computer application prepared and for the entire duration of the sharing service, and ensure the presence of a logistic base in the Catania area. The company is also obliged to ensure that the service is carried out in compliance with road safety conditions for both users and other users of the public space.
Among the service standards, the Municipality has provided that the scooters are also equipped with an advanced technological system regarding the location of the areas in which the devices are allowed to park, which must be provided with an identification code, a sort of “plate”, in addition to the logo of the company and the Municipality of Catania. The economic burden to implement the service will be fully borne by the operator who will be awarded the service, who will be entitled to set a fee for the rental use of the vehicles made available. The system will therefore not involve any expense for the Municipal Administration.