Bolt launches dockless e-scooters in Madrid

Bolt, the ride-share company which was formerly called Taxify, has launched electric kick scooters in central Madrid. The firm piloted the vehicles in Paris last year – making it the first to combine scooter sharing and ride-hailing together in one mobile app, Bolt claims. “Beating the traffic is a big issue in cities like Madrid and a lot of trips are much more efficiently covered with an electric scooter rather than a car with a driver,” says Markus Villig, CEO and co-founder of Bolt. He says the dep
April 2, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Bolt, the ride-share company which was formerly called Taxify, has launched electric kick scooters in central Madrid.

The firm piloted the vehicles in Paris last year – making it the first to combine scooter sharing and ride-hailing together in one mobile app, Bolt claims.

“Beating the traffic is a big issue in cities like Madrid and a lot of trips are much more efficiently covered with an electric scooter rather than a car with a driver,” says Markus Villig, CEO and co-founder of Bolt.

He says the deployment in the Spanish capital reduces car rides and saves customers time and money.

Bolt, which now has ride-hailing services in 30 countries, pointed out the pitfalls of user %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external data false http://www.itsinternational.com/sections/transmart/news/bolt-pledges-not-to-serve-up-eyeballs-for-advertisers/ false false%> collection at 1846 ITS International’s 8545 MaaS Market conference in London in March. It says that being sensitive to the local micromobility ecosystem is an important factor for firms in the space.

“Our company’s experience in Paris, where we’ve been cooperating with the city to establish good practices for scooter use, has shown us that it’s crucial to have a good working relationship with the local government,” says Paul Alvarez, Bolt’s operations manager for Spain.

“This way you can really be targeting the pain points in city traffic and provide best value to citizens. In Madrid, we are not focusing on city centre only, but are aiming to expand our service to all areas which have limited transportation options.”

Bolt scooters come with built-in GPS trackers to provide data on pick-up and drop-off locations. Minimum fare is €1, with a ride costing 15 cents per minute.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Arup partners with MaaS Global to develop services
    May 1, 2018
    Consultant Arup will assist MaaS Global by providing consultancy services related to the development and deployment of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). The collaboration intends to provide an offering that rivals car ownership across cities. MaaS Global’s mobile app, Whim, is available in Helsinki, Finland and has just made its UK debut in the city of Birmingham. The company has grand ambitions for Whim, looking to roll it out to 60 countries in the next five years. David O'Keeffe, director and digital
    Read More
  • Improve efforts to develop alternative fuels infrastructure, say MEPs
    September 26, 2018
    The European Commission (EC) and member states need to ‘redouble efforts’ to boost the development of an alternative fuels infrastructure, say transport MEPs. The warning comes in a draft resolution from the Transport and Tourism Committee. Ismail Ertug, rapporteur, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, says: “Our initiative report urges the Commission to accelerate the revision of the directive, come up with strong infrastructure targets and more funding for a
    Read More
  • Lyft Green Mode option allows riders to request electric and hybrid vehicles
    February 14, 2019
    Lyft is launching a Green Mode feature within its app to provide riders in Seattle with the option to travel in an electric or hybrid vehicle. The move follows the company’s planned introduction of thousands of electric vehicles (EVs) onto its platform this year. Lyft says the deployment will allow its drivers to increase net earnings as it says the cost of travelling in an EV is half that of a petrol-powered car, therefore saving hundreds of dollars per month on fuel costs. Drivers can switch
    Read More
  • Lyft updates app to boost two-wheeled travel
    October 2, 2019
    Lyft is tweaking its app in a bid to make it easier for users to switch between different modes of travel - including scooters, bikes, public transit and car rentals. The ride-share firm has added shared bikes and scooters to its app over the past year and says more people are opting for its ‘greenest ride options’. The app displays mobility options in a city and Lyft says it helps users find the safest routes for bikes and scooters. The app will also allow users to compare the time and cost acro
    Read More

Highlighted Content