Bolt announces increase in scooter trips and new micro-mobility investment

Credit: Bolt

European scooter operator Bolt has announced a huge increase in the usage of its scooters, with a 500 per cent increase in rides in March 2022 compared to the same time in 2021.

The company has also announced plans to invest over €150 million in 2022 to further scale its scooter and e-bike operations, as well as develop solutions to enhance user experience and safety. As a result, Bolt will expand its fleet to more than 230,000 scooters and e-bikes at the end of 2022, across over 250 cities, up from 170 cities the previous year. It also has ambitious plans to obtain licences to operate scooters in cities such as Oslo (Norway), Rijeka (Croatia), Turin (Italy) and Gothenburg (Sweden).

With rapid expansion into new cities and countries, Bolt now has scooters in more than 170 European cities across 20 countries, up from around 60 cities in 15 countries in March 2021, including extensive expansion in Germany where Bolt scooters are present in 54 cities, with Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt among others.

Scooters are revolutionising mobility in cities – but safety has to be the top priority

Dimitri Pivovarov, Vice President of Rentals at Bolt, said: “Our mission is to help build cities for people, not cars, by providing more affordable and environmentally friendly shared mobility alternatives for all city trips. Scooters and e-bikes are a perfect alternative to cars for shorter inner-city trips, so it’s encouraging to see the customer demand for our scooters as we continue to expand across Europe.”

In March 2022, Bolt reported the findings of its research conducted in partnership with Norway’s Institute of Transport Economics (TØI) which found that in-app encouragement resulted in up to 60 per cent increase in users across ten European cities shifting from ride-hailing to scooters for shorter trips, highlighting the potential to improve air quality in cities.

Furthermore, Bolt’s fifth generation electric scooter, Bolt 5, is currently being rolled out in cities across Europe and is designed to meet the needs of customers and cities by providing the highest standards of safety, sustainability and comfort.