E-scooters seem to have a Jekyll and Hyde quality. On one hand, they may be the most practical and sustainable form of transport today. On the other, they are maligned for the eyesore and hazard they create when randomly parked in city centres.

“Cities have been struggling to tackle the e-scooter parking problem. Mostly they have restricted or even banned the use of e-scooters in congested urban areas. But this approach throws the baby out with the bathwater,” says Sævareid.

An innovative govtech scale-up, Nivel provides a digital regulator tool for cities to regulate e-scooter parking. Real-time vehicle data from around the city is fed into the software. This allows city administrators to view the micromobility situation at any point in time and create or change policies based on the shared data.

“City administrators get an overview of each vehicle in real time. Then they can adjust the parking zones based on the real-time data. If the city square is getting too crowded, they can raise the parking fees. Or they can use subsidies to encourage scooter use in areas with less public transportation. These are just two of many examples,” explains Sævareid.

The tool works with two-way data exchange between the city administration and the many micromobility commercial operators. In addition, the solution includes a citizen’s tool to report unlawful or unsafe parking and an operator’s tool that allows the companies to follow up poor parking on their end.

The digital regulator tool allows city administrators to take a nuanced approach to parking regulation. Often seen as a nuisance, e-scooters can now become a positive part of a city’s sustainable transport plan, allowing commuters to forgo driving and make seamless connections to public transport.

“Our solution helps cities to host an efficient mobility service while balancing the needs of the public space,” says Sævareid.

Moreover, the tool vastly simplifies the city’s task of micromobility regulation. Highly user-friendly, the tool can be installed in just a few days. Administrators can easily adjust parking access and respond immediately to the ever-shifting landscape of the public space.

Europe has 34 cities with a population of over 1 million, and all share the common problem of tension between micromobility and other uses of the public space. The same is true for smaller cities. The number of e-scooters is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years.

“The public sector is our main customer,” says Sævareid. “This is challenging, but also interesting, because we are helping to solve urban problems that relate to people’s everyday lives.”

Nivel has already proven its success in Bergen, Norway, where the city uses the digital tool to regulate more than 3 000 e-scooters from seven commercial operators. Established in 2019, the company has received support from EIT Urban Mobility, among other sources.