Definitive end to private rental bikes scattered throughout Madrid. This Monday, September 30, ended the last extension of the authorizations that the Town Hall had granted in 2022 to several companies to distribute these devices without a fixed base in the capital, which could be parked at numerous points on public roads.
The end of this authorization, which has been confirmed by sources from the Mobility area in Somos Madrid, means that all devices of this type that various companies distribute in Madrid must stop operating and be removed from the streets of the city. The decision comes a month after the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, announced the end of scooter rental concessions due to the inconvenience caused to citizens and repeated breaches of the contract with the town hall.
Two years ago, Madrid City Hall authorized the rental of 2,802 bicycles from the companies Ridemovi, Bolt, Bird, Dott and Lime. In addition, Bicimad Go was also included in the distribution, the version without a fixed base of municipal rental bicycles. Among them, 1,999 aircraft were authorized to operate within the M-30 and the rest in the outer districts.
Then, Almeida’s team presented this deployment as a “boost for sustainable mobility”, in addition to ensuring “the free market and effective free competition”. But it also warned, in the same press release, that it could “revoke the authorizations if the successful bidders do not respect one of the established legal and technical conditions”.
The Mobility sector quickly began to reverse its decision, removing 288 authorized Bicimad Go devices, a service ten times more expensive and which reduced the availability of old white bikes. The renewal of the fleet, coinciding with the great expansion of the public rental system, caused this modality to disappear, which was also managed by the EMT.
Bikes for 29 cents per minute
Until now, private bicycles operated in Madrid with free public authorization, which the City Council granted to companies that requested it and presented the obligatory authorization, insurance and civil liability policy. That of 2022 was the second attempt to organize the bicycle market without a fixed base in the capital after the first failure recorded in 2021.
Although they were free, the prices of these companies were not cheap. Lime, a company whose bikes have reappeared in central Madrid in recent weeks (it had permission to deploy 521), charges 0.29 euros for each minute of use of its devices.
The Town Hall granted six-month extensions from September 30, 2022, but the decision on the rental of electric scooters coincided with the end of these renovations, which coincides with one of the best moments of Bicimad, the public company of bicycle rental. Last month, the system, currently managed by the EMT, recorded nearly 40,000 daily trips.
Sources in the Mobility sector justify this by explaining that at the time of obtaining authorizations from private operators, Bicimad had 258 bases in 15 municipalities and 2,964 bicycles. But currently the system covers 21 districts, with 611 bases and 7,500 operational bikes, so coverage reaches the entire city.
The end of permits will affect two of the companies that will also have to remove the scooters, Dott and Lime. The first had an authorization for 104 bicycles, while the second had the 521 mentioned until this Monday, while it was still in operation.
“No new authorization has been granted and, therefore, they will have to withdraw them”, underlines a spokesperson for Madrid City Hall regarding the possibility that they ignore the end of their license and continue to use their bikes in October.
In the case of scooters, the Mobility zone has announced that they will stop operating for the entire month of October, but it is the Town Hall that must withdraw their current permits, since the concession is not yet completed. The Dott company announced that it would file a complaint if the municipality does not open negotiations and decides to comply with what the mayor announced.
