The green electric scooters of the “Tier” brand are part of the cityscape in cities like Munich. The provider from Berlin has been an official partner of the Munich transport company MVG since 2019. Now the Tier company also wants to expand in Garching. 200 rental electric scooters and 100 rental electric bicycles could soon be rolling through the university town, with the option for more.
The municipality has no real right of objection. Three years ago, under the then CSU Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, the Small Electric Vehicles Ordinance was passed, opening the door for a wave of e-scooters that have been spilling over cities and communities ever since. The rental vehicles can be activated via app and should be an alternative to walking for short distances. The ordinance does not provide for any separate regulatory options for municipalities, such as how they can make binding or sanctionable requirements for providers. However, the company Tier acts cooperatively and wants to define the conditions for the e-scooter rental in coordination with the city in a voluntary declaration of commitment.
MVG will continue to offer rental bikes, but according to its own statement it will not expand it in the near future, not even to include e-bikes. In view of these conditions, the mood in the city council towards the new offer from “Tier” was basically positive. However, some expressed skepticism about the free-floating model, in which the scooters can be parked anywhere in the city where the associated app does not explicitly state a no-parking zone. On the other hand, this model would allow the scooters to be used in districts further away from the center. Since Tier operates a warehouse in Garching-Hochbrück, the provider promises to be able to take care of broken or fallen scooters quickly.
A decision on the details of the rental start in Garching should be made in autumn.