ERA-GLONASS for the scooter: who and how much will pay for the surveillance system

In the capital, they are beginning to test the scooter control system. Era-GLONASS modules are installed on the means of individual mobility, which help to monitor the speed of the scooter and automatically reduce it in «slow zones». While this is an experiment, but they are already saying that all scooters can be equipped with such devices, and we are talking about private devices, kicksharing and so monitors them via satellites.

The essence of the experiment is that speed-restricted zones will be created in Moscow and scooters, getting into it, will automatically reduce speed. According to the rules of the road, the speed of the scooter is limited to 25 kilometers per hour.

«At the entrance to certain sections of Moscow, scooters will automatically slow down, ensuring compliance with the established rules, the safety of pedestrians and all road users. For this purpose, electric scooters are equipped with special Russian-made trackers connected to ERA-GLONASS. The territories where the experiment is taking place are divided into several zones with maximum speed limits — 10 km/h, 15 km/h or 20 km/h (sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, parks, etc.) The experiment will take place before the end of the season», — explained Vasily Shpak, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.

They don't talk about other features of the system. But in theory, the satellite module allows you to literally follow the scooter. There is a wide range of possibilities: from the search for stolen devices, to automatic fines for trips to prohibited highways. Another effect is a price increase. If the installation of satellite beacons becomes mandatory, it will inevitably affect the price. This was the case with cars, when equipping with Era-GLONASS units became mandatory, buyers felt it, while not everyone understands the practical help from the SOS button in the car interior.

At the same time, the novelty will not affect sharing scooters, since they have been monitoring their devices for a long time so that they are not stolen and reduce the speed of scooters at the request of the authorities.

«Thanks to our own IT system for controlling the fleet of scooters, we control the speed of all our scooters. We use GLONASS communication in part of the fleet, but we have implemented speed control solutions based on our sharing platform, » Whoosh told Novye Izvestia. — All scooters are configured according to traffic regulations — they do not go faster than 25 km/h, and recognize slow zones — territories where they need to lower the speed limit. Slow zones are coordinated with the city and, as a rule, the requirement not to go faster than 15 km/h in them also applies to private scooters. Since the speed control of private scooters is still an open question, it seems that such a solution is interesting for this part of the means of micromobility».

Maxim Kadakov, the editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, writes about this in his telegram channel.

«If I understand correctly, „ordinary“ electric scooters are used for tests — private or departmental. From which we conclude that in the near future they may prohibit either the sale of electric scooters without ERA-Glonass, or operation. The second is more difficult to control, the first is easier, » the expert writes. «I have no idea how much ERA—Glonass costs for a scooter. Whether it is possible to provide all the scooters sold with such blocks, I don't know either. But it is obvious that electric scooters will become more expensive with blocks than without blocks.»

How much can the Era-GLONASS unit cost? Judging by the prices of companies that equip cars with similar devices, the prices for beacons start from 10 thousand rubles. On the website of the official operator of the system, it is indicated that a set of equipment costs 53,000, plus the installation of 5,000 rubles. But this is for cars. For scooters, obviously, the device should be cheaper.

Director of Development of the company «STEP. Transport solutions» Alexey Smirnov believes that equipping a scooter with a module will not exceed 10 thousand rubles.

«The installation of Era-Glonass modules on scooters will have a positive impact on the safety of personal mobility equipment, because the system will allow tracking and punishing violators, » says the expert, «besides, it will be possible to study and understand the patterns of movement of scooters around the city. This big data will help the city authorities to make informed decisions regarding the creation of the necessary infrastructure where there is none, or vice versa, to develop it where it is introduced and in demand. The Era-glonass module costs from 5 to 10 thousand rubles, so this will inevitably affect the price. I do not think that the design of electric scooters itself will require some modification, because the glonass units themselves are quite compact, they can be attached to the steering rack or hidden in the battery compartment. There is no control over personal electric scooters. If they are obliged to use Era-Glonass, we may first encounter a wave of misunderstanding, but in the future this will lead to the creation of safe streets and roads for all road users».

As Novye Izvestia has already told, there is an ambiguous practice of using individual mobility equipment in Russian cities. In some megacities, they are proposed to be banned altogether. The reason for this is numerous accidents and incidents with hitting pedestrians. This year, the traffic rules for SIM were adopted, which set the main restrictions: pedestrians have absolute priority over a scooter, the speed of SIM is limited to 25 kilometers per hour, and on the roads they are equated to bicycles. The only place where the scooter has priority is the bike path.