Madrid Bans E-Scooter Rentals Over Safety Concerns

Madrid plans to ban e-scooters rented through mobile apps after operators failed to meet safety and parking regulations. Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida announced the cancellation of licenses for Lime, Dott, and Tier Mobility starting in October, with no plans for new licenses. Operators have 20 days to appeal.

Madrid will ban e-scooters rented through mobile apps after the city's three licensed operators failed to implement limits on their clients' circulation or control their parking, Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said in a statement. Martinez-Almeida said the licenses of Lime, Dott and Tier Mobility would be cancelled from October and that the city has no plans to grant new licenses to any other operators.

'The market was found to be incapable of meeting the requirements set by the mayor's office to ensure the highest level of safety for citizens,' he said in a statement on Thursday. The so-called scooter sharing system has raised opposition in cities around the world due to reckless driving by users on streets and sidewalks and haphazard parking that often leaves public spaces cluttered.

Since May 2023, the Madrid city council had regulated the rental e-scooter market, only authorising Amsterdam-based Dott, Germany's Tier Mobility and U.S.-based Lime, whose scooters are available on Uber's app. They were authorised to rent 2,000 scooters each.

The three operators were supposed to give the mayor's office access to its data and were ordered to implement technology forcing their customers to leave the scooters only in authorised areas and preventing them from hiring them in pedestrian-only streets or near historic parks. They failed to meet those conditions, the statement said, adding that they have 20 days to appeal.

Dott, Lime and Tier did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Madrid follows in the footsteps of Paris, which last year banned e-scooter rentals following a public consultation.

(With inputs from agencies.)