Shared e-scooter operator Bolt said this Friday, 23 October, that pulling the scooters from Lisbon’s streets may leave residents with fewer affordable, sustainable ways to get around. Locals were responsible for 78% of trips carried out in 2025, it claims.
“In 2025, 78% of trips [on shared scooters] were made by residents, mostly on first- and last-mile journeys and to connect with public transport. Taking them off the city’s streets cuts the accessible, affordable and sustainable mobility options open to people who live in Lisbon,” Bolt said in a written statement to journalists.
The row follows Lisbon City Hall’s approval of a proposal from Carlos Moedas’s (PSD) administration to suspend shared e-scooter schemes in the capital by the end of the year.
Bolt, one of the main operators in the system, insists it has stuck to the rules set out in its 2023 agreement with the city: a top speed of 20km/h, and mandatory parking only in designated spots.
It also pushes back on the so-called ‘pavement problem’. “Parking spots are set by the municipality, not by the operators. About 70% of the roughly 1,900 spots now designated are on pavements,” the company said. Since 2023, it adds, it has put forward “hundreds of more suitable, better signposted and better distributed alternatives” to make correct parking easier and free up space for pedestrians. The company claims to have even offered to fund signage, road markings, and dedicated parking stations.
Bolt accepts that poor parking “especially affects people who find it harder to get around on foot”, but argues the answer is “to have parking spaces off the pavement and clearly marked”.
The operators, it says, currently pick up the entire bill for enforcement, including towing, fines, and storage of vehicles. “We proposed that an equivalent investment be channelled into improving this infrastructure,” the statement reads.
On safety, Bolt points out that operators of shared scooters have logged 608 reported incidents since 2023, across more than 42 million kilometres travelled. This year, only 0.5% of reported incidents have been classed as serious.
“Safety remains a priority,” the company said, noting that, unlike privately owned scooters, shared ones have a built-in speed limiter capped at 20km/h, and parking rules that can be policed.
Bolt says its scooters will stay on the streets of the capital until the changeover date, and that it wants to expand its shared e-bike service, “an alternative for many of the residents who use scooters in their daily lives”.
Even so, the company says it is open to talking to City Hall about “a model that would let shared scooters stay in the city”.
Source: LUSA
Photo credit: Expresso
