The Government of the Balearic Islands, through the Directorate General for Mobility and the public bodies corresponding to each means of public transport, has agreed to temporarily suspend access to electric scooters, electric bicycles and other electric personal mobility vehicles (PMVs) to train and metro services and intercity buses on the island of Mallorca. The measure, adopted for security reasons, takes effect on 1 December 2023 and is adopted on a temporary basis for an initial period of six months.
The suspension is adopted for safety reasons in view of the risks involved allowing PMVs access to public transport, in the same way that similar measures have been taken in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the Community of Madrid and EMT buses in Palma. The measures have also been introduced in European cities such as London or Paris, among others. Another reason are the fires caused by exploding batteries in vehicles of these type while on transport services in several cities, such as on the Madrid metro last October and on the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya in November last year.
As agreed by the respective boards of directors of Consorci de Transports de Mallorca (CTM) and Servicios Ferroviaris de Mallorca (SFM), the suspension has been adopted on a temporary basis, for six months, from 1 December 2023 until 1 June 2024. During this period, the appropriateness or otherwise of extending this measure or establishing a new regulation will be assessed. This measure does not affect access by wheelchairs and vehicles for persons with reduced mobility, which are excluded from the definition of PMVs in the state regulation.
The agreements establish the temporary suspension of access of electric VMPs on the TIB intercity bus service in Mallorca and to SFM facilities and trains, both on the train and metro services. To avoid the risk of fire or explosion in SFM's facilities, of which the busiest are underground, it was also decided to prohibit access by PMVs to its facilities. During this period, access by these types of vehicles to the Palma intermodal station is also suspended.
To encourage intermodality in the use of public transport, efforts will continue to be made to progressively introduce measures that encourage it and to allow users to leave bicycles, scooters or other VMPs at stations, such as the installation of more parking spaces inside and outside the stations. Also, within the Palma intermodal station reform project, solutions will also be found to store scooters for users travelling to other municipalities, while, in the opposite direction, users from the Part forana who come to Palma already have a bicycle service available.