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It is true that there are few parking rules for scooters in the center.

Brussels taxi drivers have had enough of electric scooters constantly occupying taxi ranks in the city center. The digital trade magazine Passenger Transport magazine managed to find out in the city newspaper Bruzz that the Brussels taxi federation of Sam Bouchal asks for clear regulations for these scooters.

“This is what the taxi rank in the Infante Isabellastraat looks like in the center,” writes Sam Bouchal, spokesman for the Brussels Taxi Federation on Twitter. “Do we have to remove the scooters ourselves and dump them on the public road to get a response?”

“Those scooters are a huge problem for us,” says Bouchal. “Not just for us, by the way, for everyone! They park in disabled parking spaces, don't follow the traffic rules… We're tired of it”. In the first place, the taxi federation wants clear regulations for scooters, and finds it "incomprehensible that there is not yet one".

“We know that companies such as Uber, Bolt and Dott have sufficient technical resources to ensure, for example, that scooters can no longer drive into certain zones, or cannot park in certain places. But they don't. I don't understand why authorities don't push that through," he continues.

The nuisance is especially great in the center. "Every day I hear from various taxi drivers that they are facing this problem, I am constantly being forwarded photos and conflicts regularly arise," said the spokesperson. “You should also know that the number of parking spaces for taxis has fallen by 20 percent in Brussels in recent years. If those remaining places are also strewn with scooters, where should we park?”

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It is true that there are few parking rules for scooters in the center. The police refers to the new regulations for electric scooters that have been in force since July 1. "Since there are no specific parking zones and zones with a parking ban in our zone, we do not issue a verbal warning," says Ilse Van de Keere, spokesperson for the police zone of Brussels-Capital Ixelles. “So no fines have been issued yet.” The taxi federation also denounces the total lack of communication between the taxi sector, city authorities and the police.

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