The changes are the result of an addendum to the contract signed between Lisbon City Council (CML) and the five shared scooter operators in the city in January 2023, “introducing new rules for the circulation of these vehicles”.

As is already the case with the Gira bicycle network and access to some car parks, Lisbon residents with Navegante passes will be able to use shared scooters free of charge, which, according to the city council, represents “another step towards integrating soft mobility into the public transport system”.

“However, the free ride will not be immediate. Operators estimate that it will take ‘up to two months’ to implement the measure, due to the need for technical integration with the systems of the Lisbon Metropolitan Transport, the entity that manages the Navegante pass”, indicated the CML, thus indicating that the measure will be implemented from September.

The Navegante pass can be purchased monthly and allows access to all public transport in the city, namely Carris, Metropolitano de Lisboa and CP - Comboios de Portugal.

More prohibited areas

The addendum to the contract signed between the CML and the five scooter operators also provides for the expansion of the areas where scooters are prohibited from circulating.

“From now on, in addition to BUS lanes, the circulation of these vehicles will be prohibited in gardens, exclusively pedestrian areas and central roads, such as Avenida da Liberdade”, said the CML, explaining that the restriction will be applied digitally, through georeferencing, preventing the vehicles from operating in the defined areas.

In a statement published on the CML website, the vice-president of the city council, Filipe Anacoreta Correia (CDS-PP), who is responsible for Mobility, said that these changes “improve public spaces” and make the Navegante pass “a fully satisfactory alternative in terms of mobility”, encouraging Lisbon residents to “give up their cars”.

Since 2023, the city council has been implementing several measures to organize and regulate the use of scooters in the city, highlighting “the creation of mandatory parking hotspots, the limitation of the maximum speed to 20 km/h and the reduction in the number of vehicles available, which has fallen by 73%”.

To organise “the chaos” caused by scooter traffic in the city, the city council and the operators have agreed on a maximum number of vehicles in circulation, which will be 1,500 per operator in winter and which may go up to 1,750 in spring and summer.

“There are currently around 6,000 scooters in authorised operation in Lisbon”, revealed the CML, which in the current term (2021-2025) is chaired by Carlos Moedas (PSD), who governs without an absolute majority.

In January 2023, Carlos Moedas highlighted that the agreement signed with the operators provides a solution to the three main problems detected in the use of these vehicles - parking, the excessive number of scooters in Lisbon and excessive speed -, while awaiting the implementation of a municipal regulation on scooters.