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 t
August 16, 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 data collection at 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.

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

  • Asecap debates the future of tolling
    August 23, 2016
    Colin Sowman reports form Asecap’s Study & Information Days event in Madrid. At Asecap’s (the Association of European Toll Road Operators) recent Study and Information Days event there was no doubt about the subject at the top of the agenda: the European Union Directive 23/2014/EU. This will introduce fundamental changes to the concession model under which Asecap members operate more than 50,000km of tolled highways and, in response, it has compiled a report entitled Proposal for a Sustainable Concession Mo
    Read More
  • Cities get road priorities right
    March 22, 2022
    Cities including Paris, Milan and London have all announced serious expansions to their bicycling infrastructure over the last few years. The era of active travel is here, finds Alan Dron
    Read More
  • ITS & Ethics: yes means yes
    March 4, 2019
    There is an increasing wealth of information available to create personalised transport solutions – and the possibilities are exciting. But, Andrew Bunn warns, ITS companies have a duty to be explicit in explaining what people’s data is going to be used for
    Read More
  • Ex-Yunex boss Schlitt takes over at Holon
    May 2, 2025
    Holon Urban driverless shuttle will be tested on streets of Hamburg this year
    Read More

Highlighted Content