TOP STORIES 🔥

🔵 Dott Connects the Dots in Padua

In July 2025, the City of Padua published the results of its competitive tender for shared micromobility services — and Dott came out on top with a perfect score of 100, ahead of RideMovi, Bit Mobility, and Lime. The service, which has been in operation since May 2026, covers not only the city of Padua but also eleven municipalities within the Co.Me.Pa. metropolitan area. It represents one of the most extensive shared mobility service areas awarded in northern Italy.

The previous service was operated by RideMovi, which had been running a fleet of 700 standard bikes and 50 e-bikes in a purely free-floating model. The new scheme differs significantly in both scale and scope.

Italy's first fully multimodal shared fleet

"Padua represents a particularly important project for Dott, because here we are introducing for the first time in Italy a fully multimodal fleet, composed of electric scooters, e-bikes and standard bikes," said Vittorio Gattari, Dott's Director of Public Relations. The fleet also includes cargo bikes and hand cycles — making Padua's new service one of the most diverse shared mobility offers currently operating in Italy, with a strong emphasis on accessibility and inclusion.

The rationale behind the single-operator approach

Padua's approach is based on a clear assumption: multimodal shared mobility works best when a single operator is accountable for the entire offer. Fragmented permit systems — where Operator A runs scooters, Operator B runs bikes, and Operator C runs e-bikes — can generate coordination challenges that undermine both user experience and operational consistency. Different apps, different pricing logic, different enforcement cultures. Padua prioritised network integration over a multi-operator structure, awarding the full package to one operator on the basis of quality, not price alone.

Gattari explains: "The contract allows us to finally make our bikes available to Paduans, contributing to a much more extensive and integrated service, where shared mobility can become a real alternative to the private car for daily journeys."

The metropolitan extension to eleven Co.Me.Pa. municipalities is equally significant. Most shared micromobility contracts stop at the city boundary. Padua has built a scheme that reflects how people actually live and travel rather than where the administrative perimeter ends.

Some indicators to watch for

The key indicators to monitor will be vehicle utilisation across all modes, the uptake of cargo bikes, and whether the metropolitan extension delivers meaningful ridership outside the Padua city centre. If it does, this becomes a replicable model for mid-sized Italian cities with university populations, strong cycling cultures, and fragmented suburban commuter flows.

Several are already watching closely. Bologna, which has been discussing a multimodal shared mobility framework for two years without concluding a tender, may be the next city to adopt a similar approach. The question is whether the political will exists to commit to a single operator across all modes — and whether competing operators can assemble a similarly comprehensive proposal.

🦒 Longtail, Short Commute

Launched in July 2024 with 105 electric bikes, Cap Cotentin’s service has expanded to 430 bikes across 36 stations in Cherbourg (FR) and surrounding cities to meet growing demand. Monthly trips on the network rose from 2,000 to 10,000 between 2024 and 2025, with projections pointing to 300,000 trips in 2026. For an urban area of 180,000 residents, the figures suggest a significant change in travel behaviour.

City officials repeatedly observed users carrying passengers on the rear of shared e-bikes. The practice became common enough for the local authority to design a service around it.

Cherbourg has now deployed France’s first fleet of docked shared electric longtail bikes, comprising 15 vehicles. Built by Douze Cycles — France’s leading cargo bike manufacturer — the model allows to carry a passenger, a child, or cargo loads, while remaining fully integrated into the existing station network. The target audience consists of users whose mobility needs are not fully met by a standard shared e-bike: families with young children, residents making utility trips, people for whom a two-wheeler only works if it carries more than just them.

The key innovation lies in integrating the vehicle into a docked shared mobility system. Ecovélo adapted its existing charging and locking infrastructure to accommodate the Douze Cycles LT model. The vehicle itself was modified for shared use, with a reinforced frame, a rigid fork, and a motor configuration designed to withstand intensive daily operation.

Rather than restrict an informal practice, Cap Cotentin chose to accommodate it. A small but telling shift in how public authorities approach shared mobility — and one that may offer lessons for other cities.

LAUNCHES & EXPANSIONS 🚀

Donkey Republic
Launch in Oulu (FI) 🚲 (100)

Ecovélo
Expansion in Cherbourg (FR) 🚲 (+15 longtail cargobikes)

Forest
Expansion in …

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TENDER WATCH 👀

🟠 Expected & Rumoured

Teruel (ES) | 🚲
◾️Plans for a pilot service with 50 bikes
◾️Investment budget of €365,000

Opole (PL) | 🚲
◾️Tender expected, for a launch in November 2028
◾️Station-less system with 100 bikes and 100 ebikes

🔴 Closed

Asker & Baerum (NO) | 🛴&🚲
◾️Voi and Ryde win 2-year licences
◾️4,400 scooters & 320 bikes

Frankfurt (DE) | 🛴
◾️Voi confirmed among the 3 selected operators
◾️Total fleet of 10,500 scooters
◾️New licences start on July 1st

Stockholm (SE) | 🛴
◾️Voi and Bolt selected, Lime to exit
◾️Each company to operate 6,000 scooters under a 2-year contract

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CITY UPDATES 🌐

Chemnitz (DE) | Dedicated parking zones will be implemented for shared scooters.

Lisbon (PT) | The city joins Bolt’s Sustainable Urban Transition Lab.

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INDUSTRY NEWS 🗞️

Dott reports €28.4m revenue for Q1 2026.

Ecovélo inaugurates its first charging station in Troyes (FR).

nextbike suffers from vandalism in Iulia Alba (RO).

OKAI unveils three new micromobility vehicles, and a compatible charging station.

Goldman Sachs Alternatives becomes the lead investor in a new Equip Capital-managed fund, which acquires a majority stake in Ryde Technology.

hop renews its scooter fleets across Turkey (TR), starting with Istanbul and Izmir.