TOP STORIES 🔥

🛴 The Trial Is Over. Long Live the Trial.

One Year. Five Extensions. Seven Million Trips. Transport for London published its Phase 3 e-scooter tender on 26 February 2026. The contract is worth up to £42.3 million, runs potentially to September 2032, and covers up to two operators across 11 London boroughs.

That's the headline. Here's what actually matters.

The trial that refuses to die — for good reason

London launched its rental e-scooter scheme in June 2021 as a one-year post-Covid experiment. The DfT has since extended the national trial framework five times, most recently to May 2028. The UK remains one of the last countries in Europe without permanent e-scooter legislation, and frustration in the sector is vocal — Dott's policy team recently warned that year five of a one-year trial was undermining investment on both sides.

But London's numbers tell a different story: 7 million trips since launch, 2 million in the last year alone — up 54% year-on-year. Daily utilisation hit 1.5 trips per vehicle on average, peaking at 2 in summer. This is not a trial anymore. It's infrastructure with a temporary legal status.

What makes this tender worth studying

First, it's a concession. No pricing submitted, no commercial envelope. Operators bear the full revenue risk and set their own fares. TfL evaluates capability, safety, and sustainability — not cost.

Second, safety carries 45% of the total evaluation score, with a hard minimum threshold on every individual question. One weak safety response disqualifies the entire bid. TfL's Phase 2 record — serious injuries in 0.0007% of trips, zero fatalities — sets the bar.

Third, the SLA framework has genuine teeth. Fleet availability (minimum 80% on-street daily), parking compliance (minimum 85% of trips ending in a designated bay), hazardous vehicle removal within 1 hour — all tracked in real time via mandatory API with under-3-minute latency. Penalties run up to £200 per percentage point per day. Persistent breaches can end the contract.

Fourth, operators pay to participate: an annual administration charge plus a per-bay fee (£100/bay/year), scaled by capacity. If utilisation exceeds 3 trips per vehicle per day for six consecutive periods, TfL reviews — and may increase — the charges. Success has a price.

Finally, innovation is a mobilisation deliverable. Operators must submit a joint proposal for at least three technology pilots before go-live. Pavement detection, speed management, helmet compliance. Not a nice-to-have — a contractual requirement.

The bigger picture

Phase 3 is explicitly designed to generate the evidence base for permanent legislation. A bill introduced in July 2025 would empower TfL and other cities to license shared micromobility — e-scooters included, if legalised. The contract term to 2032 bridges that gap.

🫏 Donkey Republic: Profitable, and Betting Big on Germany

Donkey Republic published its 2025 annual report this week, and the trajectory is hard to argue with: revenue up 13% to € 22.2m, 9.4 million trips, and a second consecutive year of positive EBITDA.

The real story is 2026. The Danish operator just closed a € 10m private placement and secured two major contracts in Düsseldorf and the Ruhr region — planning to add over 8,000 bikes to its fleet. Germany is clearly the growth engine.

LAUNCHES & EXPANSIONS 🚀

Bizkaiabizi
Expansion to Leoia (ES) 🚲(3 stations)

Bolt
Season launch in Vilnius (LV) 🛴

Dott / TIER
Launch in Rauma (FI) 🛴

Forest
Ucoming launch in …

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PAUSES & EXITS ⛔️

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TENDER WATCH 👀

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CITY UPDATES 🌐

Frankfurt (DE) | The city will enforce stricter scooter riding and parking regulation.

Bari (IT) | MUVT in bici, a program supporting active mobility, is back.

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INDUSTRY NEWS 🗞️

Bicimad reaches 33 million trips in 2025 and plans for further expansion in Madrid (ES).

Donkey Republic strengthens its partnership with MaaS provider 9292 across the Netherlands.

Dott upgrades its scooter fleet in Berlin (DE).

La Poste now supports Voi in its operation in Charly, Irigny, Saint-Genis-Laval and Vernaison (FR).

Lime launched a petition ahead of the municipal elections in Paris (FR) to influence politicians and voters.

Lime introduces a new pricing plan in Lucca (IT), 2 months after launch.

nextbike reveals a 32% revenue jump, and plans for expansion with focus on Germany, Spain and Poland.

PON has acquired the remaining shares and secured full ownership of CHECK and Greenwheels .

VOI upgrades its scooter fleet in Berlin (DE).

Forest targets Lime riders with a new marketing campaign in London (GB).