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

  • SVS-Vistek unveils ultra-high resolution camera
    March 21, 2018
    SVS-Vistek is showcasing a new, ultra-high resolution camera capable of taking photographs of up to 120 megapixels for ANPR purposes. The camera’s resolution is so great that it can be placed some distance from the scene – at the top of a high building, for example – and carry out ANPR surveillance over several streets simultaneously. Speed or red light enforcement are among the potential uses. The typical range of cameras used for ANPR purposes is five to 20 megapixels.
    Read More
  • Truck driver with foot on dashboard is among 4,000 drivers caught by unmarked HGV Cab
    November 7, 2017
    Highways England has released footage of a truck driver checking his phone while his right foot was on the dashboard. Spotted by Humberside Police, the driver was travelling from the M18 onto the M62 near Goole and is one of 4000 dangerous drivers on UK roads caught by a single unmarked HGV cab over a two year period. Another driver was pulled over by Devon and Cornwall Police and was found to have sent 10 replies to 10 texts within one hour and a driver in Surrey was seen trying to put toothpaste on a to
    Read More
  • Zenuity gets green light to trial self-driving cars on Swedish highways
    January 30, 2019
    Zenuity, a joint venture between vehicle solution manufacturer Veoneer and Volvo Cars, is to trial self-driving cars on Swedish highways at a maximum speed of 80km/h. Dennis Nobelius, CEO at Zenuity, says the vehicles will collect important data and improve the company’s safety functions to make unsupervised cars a reality. Transportstyrelsen, the Swedish transport agency, has approved the trials which will take place on the E4 between Stockholm and Malmö; Road 40 between Jönköping and Gothenburg; a
    Read More
  • CVMA: Quebec's ZEV plan may create unintended consequences
    January 2, 2018
    The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association’s (CVMA’s) president Mark Nantais has stated that Quebec’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations “may result in unintended consequences for consumers, automobile dealers, industry and ultimately, Quebec's economy,” in response to the new strategy introduced by the province’s government. The standard aims to increase the number of ZEVs in the region and to reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions. It will come into effect on the 11 January 2018.
    Read More

Highlighted Content