Voi is the sharing of scooters that rewards those who park well

The Swedish sustainable electric mobility company, present in Milan and Rome, assigns credits to users who attend its driving school, park well and wear a helmet. The aim is to combat road rudeness and (pre) judgments about scooters

(Photo: You) “They park them on the sidewalks”, “Two go there”, “They whiz around without looking where they are going”. One of the objectives of Voi, a Swedish sustainable electric mobility company that landed in Milan and Rome in 2020, is to break down the (pre) judgments on sharing scooters. The other is to participate in the cities project in 15 minutes.

The battle against road rudeness is in the DNA of Voi, which was founded in 2018 and is the first European micro-mobility company. Starting from September 2019 it offers its customers to attend a sort of online driving school to learn the rules to be respected on the road. The school is called RideLikeVoila and allows those who follow its virtual lessons to obtain a credit of 5 euros to spend on the rental of shared electric scooters.

"About 500 thousand people have completed this training offer", explains Magdalena Krenek, general manager of the company for Italy. A figure referring to the global market of Voi, which is currently present in 11 countries and 60 cities. For our local road education data, we still need time, given that the launch in Milan and Rome coincided with the pandemic. But Krenek assures Wired, during an interview via Zoom, that we are defending ourselves well: "Italy is the country with fewer thefts and vandalism than the others, the prejudice against Italians must be dismantled". Of course, other sharing services (from oBike to Gobee) had problems at the beginning, but for the moment you have nothing to complain about.

Parking, helmets and prizes

(Photo: Voi) The driving school to follow online is just one of the initiatives implemented by you for road safety. “Electric scooters are relatively new vehicles, so we need an educational approach. It is important to make it clear that they are not dangerous, but they are not toys either, ”continues Krenek. “Furthermore, the laws change often”. The fight against wild parking is one of the examples of the interventions implemented by the Swedish company. On the one hand, the app indicates which are the areas, such as Piazza del Duomo in Milan or Piazza del Popolo in Rome, where it is forbidden to leave the vehicle; on the other hand, it encourages the use of areas suitable for parking (hub): those who choose to leave the scooter there receive 50 cents of credit to be used for the next ride. And again: before leaving the vehicle, take a picture showing where you are parking it. If it's in good shape, you get another credit as a reward. “Those who park incorrectly are warned and, if they do so often, they are banned from the service. But we have noticed that over 90 percent of those who have been filmed have no longer parked badly. ”

With a photograph, it is also possible to show the artificial intelligence system that you are wearing a helmet before starting the race. Also in this case you receive credits to spend. A helmet is then given to those who choose to subscribe to the annual open pass (360 euros) and during live events dedicated to road education, which for the moment are suspended due to the pandemic. Still on the subject of safety, the fourth generation scooters just released by you have arrows both on the handlebar behind it, next to the license plate. “We are the only ones in the field of sharing who have the arrows”, Magdalena Krenek assures.

Integration with public transport

(Photo: Voi / Vincent Fandos) Education policies and safety aim to make shared green vehicles more and more widespread and used, actively participating in the 15-minute city revolution. "Which in the case of Rome does not mean, of course, being able to cross it all in a quarter of an hour", explains Krenek. "But to create integration between scooters, bicycles, public transport, shared vehicles". In this way, in addition to limiting pollution, spaces occupied by private cars can be freed. Which remain parked most of the time (while, according to you data, each scooter is used by a dozen users a day and therefore is almost always on the move) or who queue up in traffic. "Rome has a primacy in terms of traffic jams, which is why it desperately needs alternative mobility", reasons the general manager for Italy of Voi. At the moment there are a thousand Voi scooters in the capital, while in Milan the fleet is made up of 750 means. All of them are electric and are recharged with renewable energy.

Among the pieces that make up the city of the 15 minutes developed by you, there is the collaboration with the municipal administrations: essential for cities to adapt that signage clear, infrastructures such as cycle paths and dedicated parking, which today are missing, leaving the field free for wild rest. Furthermore, integration projects with public transport are planned (for example with discounts on season tickets), already active in other countries. "Not yet in Italy, but we hope it will soon be possible," emphasizes Krenek. In general, there is a demand for alternative mobility. "Internationally, after the lockdown, we recorded that 14 percent of our users left their car, while 68 began to use public transport again, bridging the first and last mile, that is the distance that often makes them uncomfortable to use, with scooters ". Exactly what the city of 15 minutes is aiming for.


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Car sharing Milan electric mobility Social Innovation globalData.fldTopic = "Car sharing, Milan, mobility electric, Social Innovation "

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