A plan to remove all shared scooters and bikes from the streets of Brussels by 1 September following a recent ruling by the Council of State has been postponed, with a transition phase now in place until at least the end of this year. Pending a new legal framework, the region and existing operators are working on a temporary solution for shared bikes, while scooters will remain banned from 2027 onwards. “Our aim is clear: that bike-sharing schemes continue to form part of Brussels’ mobility
system, without any interruption to the service for users,” Brussels mobility minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) has said. If no agreement is reached, the shared scooters and bikes must be removed from public spaces by the end of this year or operators may face penalties. The decision stems from a 2023 announcement from the Brussels government of plans to reduce the number of shared scooters from 20,000 to 8,000 due to the increasing nuisance the shared scooters were causing. This was accompanied by a
reduction in the number of operators, with ultimately only Dott and Bolt permitted to continue operating scooters. Along with Voi, both companies were also granted authorisation to offer shared bikes. The American corporation Lime, which also offered rental scooters in the Belgian capital, lodged five appeals with the Council of State against the licences granted. The Council of State found irregularities in the procedure, resulting in the annulment of all licences for all shared scooters and bikes at the end of last month. Following that
ruling, Brussels Mobility sent a letter to the licensed operators asking them to cease their activities as soon as possible. The companies had initially been given until 1 September at the latest to do so, but this has now been extended until the end of this year. The Brussels region is now awaiting instructions to draw up a new legal framework for shared mobility, so that such procedural errors can be avoided in future. This will be followed by a new tender for shared bikes.
With regard to shared bikes, the region is working with the companies involved, including Lime, to draw up a transitional arrangement. If such an agreement can be reached, the bikes could remain available until a new tender is launched. A transitional period for the e-scooters will run until the end of the year, after which the ban will be permanent. Users of the scooters launched a petition in favour of keeping them via the Democratie.brussels platform, which has now gathered more than the 1,000 signatures
required to have the proposal put before the Brussels parliament after the summer recess. Notably, the Council of State’s ruling does not apply to Villo’s shared bikes. In March, the Brussels government extended the concession for these bikes, operated by French advertising company JCDecaux, until 2028. But compared with the electric shared models, these bicycles are clunky and unpopular. A public tender for a successor is currently being prepared and aims to involve fully electric models. The ruling also has no impact on Felyx’s electric
shared scooters.
Brussels, shared scooters, shared bikes, Council of State, Elke Van den Brandt, Dott, Bolt, Voi, Lime, Democratie.brussels, Villo, JCDecaux, Felyx, transition phase, mobility