Yandex to launch technology to combat two-person scooter use

If more than one person boards the scooter, the device will automatically reduce the speed to walking speed: 5 km/h. As soon as the extra passenger gets off, the scooter will return to normal speed, the company explained.

To determine the number of passengers, the algorithm analyzes more than 120 parameters related to cargo. It takes into account factors such as the angle of the scooter when turning and differences in acceleration. Data is received every two seconds through sensors and an IoT module integrated into the scooter.

The algorithm only reacts to sudden changes. For example, if a person with a heavy backpack rides a scooter, the speed limit will not work. But if a second passenger joins in, the algorithm will notice and the scooter will slow down.

According to the company, the system’s accuracy during testing was greater than 95%. In the off-season, the technology will be further developed at a special test site. Yandex plans to implement it on all scooters in Moscow and other major cities in the new season, which starts in spring 2025.

Yandex Go fined and blocked 120 thousand users in 2024 for driving scooters dangerously. 75 thousand users were fined and 45 thousand accounts were blocked for violations of traffic rules and other service rules.

Whoosh was the first among kick-sharing services to develop and implement Anti-Tandem technology to detect two-person rides on electric scooters. Saint Petersburg was the first city in Russia where this system was launched. To estimate the number of people, the system analyzes more than 50 data parameters and uses the Machine Learning algorithm.