July the 30th, 2021 - Croatian Dash City electric scooters are now present in as many as fifteen Croatian cities, and their number has reached an impressive 500.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, the Croatian Dash City company has introduced a system of renting out electric scooters using a mobile application (app) in fifteen Croatian cities and municipalities - Umag, Rabac, Rab, Lopar, Crikvenica/Selce, Zadar, Biograd, Sv Filip i Jako/Turanj, Tisno, Murter, Kastela, Supetar, Gradac, Korcula and Lumbarda.

It is the first company in the Republic of Croatia and the country's wider region to deal with the rental of increasingly popular electric scooters through a fully automated sharing system at charging and rental stations.

The first system for e-scooters was launched back in pre-pandemic 2019 as a pilot project in the Dalmatian city of Zadar, where those numbers grew from five to eight stations, and since last year, Croatian Dash City e-scooters are available to be rented out in Crikvenica, Selce and Biograd. The fleet currently boasts 500 scooters and more than 30,000 registered users.

“More and more cities and companies are investing in sustainable mobility. With the use of the most modern technologies, the need for practical, affordable, healthy and environmentally friendly movement from point A to point B can be met,'' said Kresimir Dvorski, the founder of the Croatian Dash City company and the former director of the Public Bicycle System, which, in the last decade alone, has introduced Nextbike in 35 cities and is the first and largest public bicycle system in the entire region.

The speed of the Croatian Dash City company's e-scooters is limited to 25 kilometres per hour in order to minimise the risk of accidents, in pedestrian zones it is 5-10 km/h, and all scooter users are recommended to wear a helmet and, of course, adhere to all traffic rules while driving.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik/Borivoje Dokler writes on the 13th of October, 2020, after being the co-owner and director of the Public Bicycle System company (Sustav javnih bicikala) for eight years, which is currently present in more than 30 cities in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia, Kresimir Dvorski began a new venture - Dash City.

Dash City is otherwise the first and only company in the Republic of Croatia and the region that deals with the rental of electric scooters through a fully automated sharing system at charging and rental stations. All other scooters are rented mostly without such a system, and in a more limited way - at one location. Dash City's boss received an offer to kick off this particular venture from a partner from Poland, and the first system was launched last year as a pilot project in the Dalmatian city of Zadar.

After that, Dash City's systems were launched in Crikvenica and Selce, followed by Biograd and Sibenik. Dvorski pointed out that the startup phase of business and difficult living and working conditions slowed them down in launching even more systems in cities which have shown interest.

"There just wasn't enough time this year, but we'll make up for it next year," Dvorski said, adding that they already have more than 20,000 registered users. The rental and payment procedure is done via the free mobile application called Dash, and the rental price per minute is 1.50 kuna.

By scanning the QR code, a Dash City scooter can be picked up and then be returned at any station in the city, and with just one charge, the scooter can travel for about thirty kilometres.

"On average, Dash City's systems in cities have between four and eight stations and 15 to 45 scooters, depending on the availability of station locations, the tourist potential of the destination, the climate, the topography and some socio-demographic characteristics of the city," explained Dvorski. Zagreb topographically, touristically and as an urban centre has great potential for electric scooters.

"We're taking it step by step because a new law is being prepared, which should better regulate the relationship between traffic participants and clearly define which category electric scooters belong to. At the moment, they are neither in heaven nor on earth, which doesn't suit scooter owners or us who provide services, nor does it suit the city authorities. However, a similar problem could be seen with cyclists and the problems were dealt with by the construction of cycling infrastructure, improving communication and tolerance among everyone in traffic and continuous educational campaigns, so those issues have significantly decreased,'' added Dvorski.

According to him, cities are extremely interested in this business model and he believes that they are launching a mini revolution whose result, with the adequate legislation, might bring with it a whole new wave of benefits in reducing motor vehicles, reducing CO2 emissions, noise, parking problems and reducing communal clutter. The boom in e-car rental across Europe began a mere two years ago, and now big players are starting to enter that niche.

''It's true that they appeared on the market in a big way, but there is room for everyone because everyone is targeting a niche where they can take advantage of their own competitive advantages. The big players have big appetites, and we, the little ones, are here to challenge them to be better and provide a better service, and to grow a little too,'' concluded Kresimir Dvorski.

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