The milder weather means that e-scooter season is looming in the capital and elsewhere in Estonia.

Whilst both Bolt and Tuul are now reducing speeds on Friday and Saturday evenings, they differ on whether to also cut speeds in the city center at all times.

Bolt has proposed to reduce the top speed for scooters in the city center from 25 km/h to 20 km/h. The company argues that there should be an agreement between Bolt and Tuul on this.

Tuul, on the other hand, does not support cutting top speeds in the city center on the whole, as Bolt has proposed, arguing that this would not have the desired effect.

Traffic accidents involving scooters fell last year, regardless of speed limits, Tuul says.

Raivis Ozolins, Tuul CEO, said that his company was not on board with the reduced speed limit in city centers last year, and had not changed its opinion since then.

Ozolins said: "The statistics for 2023 show a downward trend [in accidents]. For this reason we see no cause to reduce e-scooter speeds in the city center. In doing so, we would be penalizing all those users who ride responsibly."

In Tallinn, the speed limit was not uniform during last year's e-scooter season (from spring to fall in effect). Whereas the limit was 25 km/h during the week, on Friday and Saturday nights, it was reduced to 17 km/h.

The e-scooter firms can remotely curb the speed limit to users – the same happens when passing schools, parts of the Old Town and other areas adjudged to require a reduced speed – meaning users do not need to juggle in their heads what speed they need to keep below.

Deputy Mayor of Tallinn Vladimir Svet (Center) says that current Estonian law does not actually grant Tallinn the right to directly prescribe anything to scooter operators or to coerce them to do one thing or another, a situation which Svet criticized.

"It is an abnormal situation where local governments essentially do not have the opportunity to deal effectively with traffic management," he said, adding that nonetheless cooperation between city and e-scooter providers has so far gone smoothly.

Svet put this down to the operators being Estonian firms, which understand the situation and that it is in their own best interests that e-scooters present no threat to pedestrians and other road users.

"Currently, this cooperation is working, and I hope that it will continue as constructively as it has been," Svet said.

Tuul is set to roll out up to 2,000 e-scooters on the capital's streets in 2024, a small rise on last year's figure, Ozolins said, adding that while Tallinn is the only town where the company operates, it is still open whether Tuul might enter the market in Pärnu too.

Bolt's government communications chief for the Baltic states Henri Arras said that last year the company's e-scooter service was available in 14 towns in Estonia, adding that this year the plan is to expand that list. He would not reveal exactly where, however, adding that discussions with local authorities are ongoing.

Vladimir Svet also spoke warmly of Bolt's practice last year of putting in place, in central Tallinn, set parking zones, which served both to reduce the clutter of e-scooters on the streets and made them easier to locate for customers, as they were concentrated in smaller areas.

Tuul also piloted this project, with "parking pockets" (see cover image) in Tallinn located, for instance, in the Maakri, Sibulaküla, Tatari, Tõnismäe and Kassisaba neighborhoods (the number of such zones totaled over 100).

Again, the e-scooter operators could remotely ensure these zones were used; more than a few meters outside a parking pocket and an e-scooter ride could not be closed out, meaning a user would continue to be billed if they left the e-scooter away from approved areas.

Svet said a decision on whether these zones should be expanded will likely be made "within a couple of weeks).

Ozolins said Tuul's experience with the parking zone system had been positive, as evidenced by feedback from customers, too.

Ozolins added that a similar system should come to Kadriorg, just east of the City Center (Kesklinn), this year, while the Telliskivi area, just to the west, is also in view here.

Both companies said they were "unlikely" to bring out any new e-scooter models this year; Bolt operated several different models last year, some of which had shock absorbers, some not. Other things to look out for include different brake configurations.

As to when the e-scooters will be back on the streets after the winter break, Arras said "by March at the latest," and "as soon as the weather permits it."

Editor's note: This article was amended to clarify that while Bolt and Tuul agree on the need to cut e-scooter speeds on Friday and Saturday evenings, they differ on whether to reduce speeds in central Tallinn at all times. ERR News apologizes for any inconvenience caused.

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