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🛑 Portugal hits the brakes on shared scooters

Portugal’s shared e-scooter market is facing a growing backlash, with local bans spreading and national restrictions under consideration. The latest signal comes from the capital: Lisbon’s mayor Carlos Moedas has promised concrete steps to tackle what he describes as the “utter chaos” caused by scooters on the city’s pavements. Lisbon has already lowered speed limits, while the Portuguese automobile association ACP is pushing for a local referendum on e-scooters. Together, these developments point to mounting political pressure on shared services.

Cities pull back

Lisbon’s debate follows restrictions and service closures elsewhere in Portugal. So far in 2026, several cities have withdrawn support for shared micromobility. Braga banned shared e-scooters from 1 September, ending the contract of sole operator Bolt. Mayor João Rodrigues described the vehicles as more problematic than beneficial. Espinho ended its shared bike and scooter programme in late July, citing disorder in public space, while Vila Nova de Gaia has moved to suspend its service.

Elsewhere, the debate remains open. In Porto, mayor Pedro Duarte views scooters as a problem and would rather promote cycling, while Coimbra says it currently lacks the conditions to introduce them. These positions differ from outright bans, but they narrow the prospects for operators seeking new markets.

Safety concerns are also fuelling the backlash. In Braga, reported annual trips rose from 32,000 in 2023 to 144,000 in 2025, but local reporting also cited more than 40 accidents in 2026, mostly involving under-18s. Such figures help explain the political response, although accident totals alone do not establish whether the risk per trip has increased—or how much of the problem involves shared rather than privately owned scooters.

A proposed helmet mandate

Alongside local restrictions, Portugal is considering tighter national rules. Parliament approved a PSD helmet bill at its first reading, sending it to committee for detailed scrutiny before a final vote. The proposal is not yet law.

The draft would make helmets mandatory for e-scooter and e-bike riders and require reflective clothing or equipment from dusk until dawn and whenever visibility is poor. Proposed fines for failing to wear a helmet range from €60–€300 for scooter riders and €30–€150 for e-bike riders. The bill received broad cross-party support.

For shared-mobility operators, the implications extend beyond scooters. A helmet mandate could address some safety concerns, but would also make spontaneous rentals less convenient, particularly for occasional users who do not carry a helmet. Public and private e-bike services could face the same barrier.

A market at risk

Portugal’s operators face pressure on two fronts: municipalities are restricting or withdrawing services, while proposed national rules could make casual use less convenient. Designated parking areas, fleet caps, geofencing and closer municipal coordination offer tools to address concerns, but operators will need to show that these measures work in practice.

Portugal illustrates how quickly demand growth can be overtaken by concerns over safety and public space. For operators, the challenge is increasingly to demonstrate that shared scooters can fit into cities’ transport systems—with reliable parking, effective enforcement and clear municipal oversight. In a shrinking market, retaining permission to operate may matter as much as attracting the next rider.

 🟢Green light for Lime in the UK

Lime has quietly turned one of its biggest markets into one of its most profitable. The US micromobility operator saw its UK profits more than double to €5.5m in 2025, up from £2m a year earlier, on revenue that rose by roughly a third to €174m — figures filed at Companies House. The growth is broad-based: average monthly active users climbed 31% to nearly 700,000, while the fleet expanded by more than 4,500 vehicles to around 38,000 e-bikes and scooters. For a sector long defined by cash-burn and consolidation, a dockless operator posting rising profits and rising ridership at this scale is a genuine rarity.

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