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Date Published: 22/08/2024

Murcia bans electric scooters on city buses

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The transport authorities in Murcia city believe scooter batteries pose an unacceptable fire risk

Murcia bans electric scooters on city buses

The explosion of an electric scooter battery in the Madrid Metro in October 2023 resulted in towns and cities across Spain enforcing restrictions on public transport and this week, Murcia city has become the latest to join the bandwagon.

The Murcia and Pedanías Transport Service (TMP), managed by several companies of the Monbus Group, has agreed to ban scooters and electric bicycles, and indeed any battery-powered personal mobility vehicle, from all of the Monbus buses that operate in the city.

As is the case in many other regions, this new rule won’t apply to electric scooters and other mobility vehicles used by people with reduced mobility.

For everyone else though, the widespread ban came into place on Tuesday August 20.

In a statement, TMP explained that this decision has been taken for safety reasons, "following the battery fires that have been recorded in recent times in public transport" and after "confirming the risk that this poses to users, company staff and vehicles.”

So as of this week, Murcia joins Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla and Palma de Mallorca, cities that have also applied some access prohibitions to personal mobility vehicles on public transport.

What restrictions on electric scooters are in place elsewhere?

In the Spanish capital, all battery-operated vehicles (aside from those used by people with mobility problems) are banned on public transport. The measure was put in place last November.

At the time, the Minister of Transport of Madrid, Jorge Rodrigo, explained that the ban was motivated "by the type of lithium-ion batteries they use and the fact that they are more likely to cause an incident on the public network than other elements such as bicycles or electric wheelchairs."

For its part, the Barcelona Metropolitan Transport Authority has extended the ban on electric scooters on several occasions before eventually approving the measure indefinitely. The authorities maintain that the current regulation applicable to scooters does not yet provide "sufficient security guarantees" to allow their presence in public transport.

In Sevilla, the restriction is only partial. Since February 2023, electric scooters are prohibited from accessing the metro during rush hours on weekdays, during special services and during times of high occupancy.

In Palma de Mallorca, the restriction was implemented on October 30, 2023. The Mobility Councillor of this municipality, Toni Deudero, justified the decision not only for safety reasons but also because these vehicles hinder access for people with reduced mobility and occupy spaces reserved for wheelchair users.

In Spain, measures are being taken to make scooters safer and from January 2024 only those vehicles with a certificate issued by the DGT can be sold.

Find all the latest motoring and transport news here or join our Driving in Spain Facebook group for regular updates

Image: Pixabay

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