Bolt’s electric scooter and bicycle service in Vila Real will end in September, by the company’s decision, which has ceased to provide an operator to ensure maintenance and relocation of the equipment, the city council said today.
The shared electric scooter service was introduced in 2023 and, a year later, the city also began offering shared electric bicycles, in an initiative that involved the municipality of Vila Real and the Bolt company.
Today, in a statement, the city council announced that the service will end in September, a decision by the company which, according to a municipal source, took the municipality by surprise.
The municipality explained that, under the implemented model, it was up to Bolt to ensure the operational component of the service, namely battery charging, equipment maintenance, and relocation whenever necessary.
Recently, it added, the company informed the municipality that it no longer had an operator to carry out these tasks, a circumstance that makes the continuity of the service untenable under the current conditions.
For this reason, Bolt announced that it will stop operating in the city as of September.
“Thus, and as this is a situation beyond the municipality’s control, it is stated that, from that date, the scooters and electric bicycles integrated in Bolt’s operation will no longer be available in Vila Real,” reads the statement.
The city hall source said that the whole process will now be reassessed and that the possibility of proceeding with a new public tender will also be studied, and, should it proceed, under what terms it will be launched.
The municipality explained that the operation introduced in the city sought to “provide citizens with an alternative transport for short-distance journeys, offering a practical, agile and suitable solution for urban travel and contributing to the diversification of mobility options available in the city.”
In the city, its use proved to be significant, mainly by university students commuting to the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD).
Lusa contacted Bolt and is awaiting a response from the company.
