Shared mobility in Brussels: e-scooters, bicycles, taxis and the battle over concessions

The petition to keep shared e-scooters clears the parliamentary threshold (12 August 2026)

A petition entitled "Pétition pour garder les trottinettes partagées à Bruxelles", filed on 18 June 2026 on democratie.brussels, the Brussels Parliament's participation platform, has passed the 1,000-signature threshold that obliges the assembly to take it up. It stood at 1,595 signatures on 12 August 2026, making it the most-signed initiative on the platform. Collection remains open until 13 July 2029.

The petition asks Parliament to reverse the Brussels government's decision to ban shared e-scooters across the regional territory from 1 January 2027, a ban justified by the rising number of accidents and by the use of these vehicles for criminal purposes.

What clearing the threshold changes, and what it does not

The 1,000-signature threshold obliges Parliament to examine the request: it guarantees a public debate. It does not oblige the majority to change position, and it does not suspend the government's decision. According to BRUZZ, the file could reach the Mobility Committee before the session resumes, with the first plenary sitting announced for 21 September 2026.

That timetable places the parliamentary debate after the transition period being prepared for shared bikes, but before the 1 January 2027 deadline.

A date discrepancy worth flagging: several press reports date the petition's launch to 14 July 2026. The Parliament's own platform states 18 June 2026, and that is the date used here.

Sources: democratie.brussels, initiative i-271 (accessed 12 August 2026); BRUZZ (11 August 2026). Confidence: official for the title, filing date, signature count, threshold and closing date, all read directly on the Parliament's platform. The parliamentary timetable, Mobility Committee and 21 September plenary, is reported by a single newsroom and was not verified against the assembly's official agenda.

A transition period of up to four months takes shape (5 August 2026)

On Wednesday 5 August 2026, BRUZZ reported that the Brussels government is working on a transitional solution to stop shared bikes disappearing from public space on 1 September. Duration envisaged: four months at most.

What has to be kept carefully apart:

• The licences remain annulled. The Council of State ruling of 29 July 2026 is not circumvented: the transition organises an interim regime, it does not revive the repealed authorisations.
• Lime could enter the scheme. The operator excluded in the 2023 award, and the party behind the appeal that brought the licences down, would be able to operate bikes alongside Bolt and Dott. The successful applicant would thus become a beneficiary of the interim regime.
• The new ordinance is still under parliamentary debate. It is meant to rebuild the licensing regime. The transition only makes sense as cover for the legal gap until its adoption.
• 1 January 2027 does not move. The ban on free-floating shared scooters stays on that date.

A meeting between the competent regional bodies and the operators was scheduled for mid-August 2026.

Sources: BRUZZ (5 August 2026). Confidence: unconfirmed. Scheme described by a government source quoted by BRUZZ and commented on by the regional mobility minister; neither decree nor official statement available as of 9 August 2026.

The Council of State annuls the licences: removal from public space on 1 September 2026

On Wednesday 29 July 2026, the Council of State annulled the licences in force for free-floating shared mobility in Brussels. The appeal came from Lime, the operator excluded from the Brussels market when the 2023 licences were awarded. According to BX1, the ruling finds a breach of the law of 29 July 1991 on the formal motivation of administrative acts, as well as the illegality of the decree of 13 July 2023 organising the sector, a text already amended once in January 2025 after an earlier appearance before the Council of State (see the litigation timeline below).

Brussels Mobility sent an official letter to the operators concerned asking them to remove their vehicles from public space by Tuesday 1 September 2026 at the latest. A transitional period covering the end of the school holidays was accepted, which explains this deadline rather than immediate removal.

What the ruling changes, and what it does not

• The ban on shared scooters decided on 11 June 2026 and set for 1 January 2027 is not called into question. Brussels Mobility confirmed this explicitly. It is simply brought forward by four months, through the courts rather than by decree.
• For shared bikes, the situation is different: the government wanted to maintain this supply, and the ruling removes it too. The authorities are working on a new regulatory framework, with no timetable published to date. Between 1 September 2026 and the entry into force of that future framework, Brussels will therefore have no free-floating shared bikes.
• The Villo! concession, which expires in September 2026 with no identified successor, is not affected by the ruling but reaches its term at the same moment. The convergence of the two timetables concentrates in September 2026 the simultaneous disappearance of most of the Brussels shared bike offering.

Reactions

On 31 July 2026, operator Dott called on its users to sign a petition intended to bring the debate to the Brussels Parliament. The same day, Vooruit.brussels, a majority party, asked the government to keep shared bikes, arguing that they are now an essential component of Brussels mobility.

According to Trends-Tendances, the free-floating shared mobility market represented at least 30 million euros in turnover in 2025, at a time when the two remaining operators were growing.

Sources: La Libre (29 July 2026); RTBF (30 July 2026); BX1 (30 July 2026); BRUZZ Mobiliteit (31 July 2026); Trends-Tendances (31 July 2026). Confidence: estimated (official communication from Brussels Mobility relayed by five independent and concordant media outlets; the Council of State ruling was not consulted directly, as its number was not published in the press).

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Ban on shared e-scooters from 1 January 2027

On 11 June 2026, the Brussels government decided to ban shared e-scooters from the regional territory as of 1 January 2027. The licences of the two current operators, Bolt and Dott, expire at the end of 2026; the new regional public tender will no longer include shared e-scooters. Shared bicycles are not affected by the decision.

Two grounds are put forward by the Minister for Mobility: road safety (a higher injury risk than cycling, cluttered pavements to the detriment of people with reduced mobility) and the fight against crime — the Brussels public prosecutor had pointed to the use of these vehicles in drug trafficking. According to Vias Institute figures reported by La Libre, e-scooter accidents caused 2,149 injuries and 13 deaths in Belgium in 2025, against 1,652 injuries and 4 deaths in 2024.

Reactions:

• The CSC-ACV union warns that up to 60 jobs are at risk at Dott by the end of 2026 and denounces a 'brutal and socially irresponsible decision, taken without sufficient consultation';
• Bolt, which had just deployed 1,200 new-generation e-scooters, says it is 'deeply disappointed' and argues the ban will push users towards private e-scooters;
• The Vias Institute considers the decision 'understandable' but notes it does not address the issue of cheap private e-scooters;
• A mobility expert interviewed by BRUZZ argues the London model (strict regulation rather than a ban) would have been preferable.

The decision ends, by expiry, the litigation open since 2023 over the licences (see timeline below). Confidence: unconfirmed (government announcement reported by the press, decree not yet published in the Belgian Official Gazette at this stage).

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Current situation

In March 2025, the shared mobility market in Brussels comprises approximately 15,700 free-floating vehicles: ~9,200 electric e-scooters and ~6,500 bicycles. In addition to these fleets, there are 360 Villo! stations (JCDecaux), representing around 5,000 docked bicycles, as well as shared scooters (Felyx, GO Sharing) and cargo bikes (TIER, Pony).

The market has undergone a major regulatory consolidation since 2023, marked by an unprecedented legal dispute between private operators, the regional government and the Council of State.

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Shared e-scooters and micro-mobility

Regulatory framework

The Brussels government decree of 13 July 2023 regulates free-floating shared mobility:

Litigation and legal saga

The selection of Bolt and Dott as the sole e-scooter operators in December 2023 triggered a legal battle that lasted over two years:

1. December 2023 — The government selects Bolt and Dott (8,000 e-scooters in total)
2. January 2024 — Lime and Voi obtain interim relief to continue operating
3. 25 April 2024 — The Council of State suspends the fleet caps, ruling that the justification was insufficient. Drop zones, however, are upheld
4. 2024 — The government amends the decree (legal justification, selection criteria, GDPR compliance)
5. 1 July 2025 — The Council of State rejects Lime's application: the operator must cease operations
6. 8 July 2025 — Lime returns via a licence transfer from Bodaz (a dormant operator with a valid licence until 5 December 2025)
7. 5 December 2025 — The Bodaz licence expires. Lime's status after this date is not confirmed by available sources

As of February 2026, Bolt and Dott hold the only valid licences (until 31 December 2026). The annulment proceedings on the merits before the Council of State remain pending.

Bolt7: modernised fleet (22 April 2026)

On 22 April 2026, operator Bolt began deploying 1,200 "Bolt7" e-scooters in Brussels (out of a total fleet of ~4,000 units). The new scooters come with:

• Integrated GPS with a handlebar screen and turn-by-turn navigation
• Visual indication of authorised parking zones and slow-down zones (drop zones and pedestrian areas already mandatory under the 13 July 2023 decree)
• Onboard AI: detects sidewalk riding → warning followed by automatic deceleration

The upgrade is progressive; the remaining 2,800 Bolt scooters will be replaced in successive waves. This is a technical update from the operator, not a regional act — it comes as the Region and municipalities discuss a strengthened regional framework for traceability and behaviour of shared micro-vehicles.

Source: BRUZZ (22 April 2026), cross-source L'Avenir / La DH Bruxelles. Confidence: unconfirmed (operator communication).

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Shared bicycles and the post-Villo! era

Villo! (JCDecaux) — End of concession

The agreement between the Region and JCDecaux, signed in November 2008, expires in September 2026. After nearly 17 years, the Villo! system is showing signs of decline:

Bruxelles Mobilite launched a comparative study in January 2023 to evaluate post-concession scenarios: (1) maintaining docking stations, (2) free-floating only, (3) hybrid, (4) public operator via the STIB. The dismantling clause requires JCDecaux to remove all stations and restore the public space within 7 months of the concession's end.

No call for tenders or decision has been announced by the new government at this stage.

Free-floating bicycles

In parallel, the free-floating bike-sharing market has grown significantly. In March 2025, around 6,500 shared bicycles were operating in Brussels (Lime, Bolt, Dott, Voi). The data.mobility.brussels portal lists 231 datasets including drop zones and the Cycling Observatory.

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Taxis and ride-hailing services

2022 taxi ordinance

The ordinance of 9 June 2022 unified the regulatory framework for paid passenger transport in Brussels. The implementing decrees (6 October 2022) set out:

Zero-emission transition

The deadline for zero-emission taxis was postponed from 2025 to 2027 by the Brussels Parliament, at the initiative of PS and MR. The sector had requested a postponement to 2030. According to Shifters Belgium, this delay represents an additional cost of +67,000 tonnes of CO2.

Reclassification of ride-hailing drivers

The question of the employment status of platform drivers (Uber, Bolt) has been the subject of three successive court decisions:

The Labour Court found, among other things, the absence of genuine economic risk, the inability to set prices, automatic disconnection after 3 refusals within 15 seconds and control via geolocation. This decision, while final for the individual case, has not yet led to a systematic reclassification of platform drivers.

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LEZ and Bruxell'Air: the link with shared mobility

Bruxell'Air — individual mobility budget

The Bruxell'Air premium offers a mobility budget to Brussels residents who give up their vehicle:

The budget covers STIB subscriptions, the purchase of a bicycle (min. 200 EUR), car-sharing (Cambio, Poppy), Victor Cab taxis and the Modalizy card. In 2020, 886 residents benefited from it. The premium budget was quadrupled to over 3 million EUR in 2022 (partly funded through the EU Recovery Plan).

LEZ as an indirect lever

The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) encourages a modal shift towards shared mobility. In 2026, 7% of the vehicle fleet is excluded (minimum diesel Euro 6, minimum petrol Euro 3), these vehicles accounting for 40% of transport NOx emissions. Since 2018, the LEZ has reduced NOx by 55%, fine particles by 33% and black carbon by 60% (Brussels Environment, 2026). Compliance reaches 99.3%. The lez.brussels portal lists the alternatives: Cambio, Poppy, Villo, Bluebike, Collecto, Park & Ride.

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Accident statistics

The Vias Institute records a sharp rise in accidents involving electric e-scooters:

Brussels accounts for 45% of all e-scooter accidents in the country. Among seriously injured and hospitalised victims, 60% suffer from head injuries. Accidents occur at intersections in 29% of cases and in darkness in 30%. The Vias survey reveals that 44% of Belgians are unaware that the minimum age is 16, and 35% do not know that carrying passengers is prohibited.

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Coverage in the DPR

The Regional Policy Declaration (DPR) of 13 February 2026 does not mention shared mobility as a public policy. Neither Villo!, nor shared e-scooters, nor ride-hailing services (VTC), nor multimodal integration (MaaS/Floya) are cited.

The indirectly related measures are:

• New Regional Mobility Plan succeeding Good Move (focused on school zones)
• Maintaining the LEZ (pass 350 EUR/year, fine reduced to 80 EUR)
• 2nd car-free Sunday per year
• Removal of contested bollards

The absence of any mention raises the question of regulatory continuity: the Villo! concession expires in 7 months, e-scooter licences at the end of 2026, and the zero-emission taxi transition still requires support.

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What the data does not tell us

Available statistics do not allow measurement of the actual modal shares of shared mobility in Brussels travel patterns. The number of trips by shared e-scooter, bicycle or scooter is not published by operators nor aggregated by Bruxelles Mobilite.

The social impact of reclassifying ride-hailing drivers remains difficult to quantify: how many drivers are active in Brussels, under what conditions, and what would be the cost of a systematic reclassification as employees for platforms and the social security system.

Finally, the post-Villo! scenario is not publicly documented: neither the cost of a public operator nor the results of the Bruxelles Mobilite comparative study (launched in January 2023) have been made public.

Formal notice to operators and mid-August meeting (3 August 2026)

According to BRUZZ, the official letter received by Voi, Dott and Bolt urges them to cease operations "as quickly as possible" and remove their vehicles from public space. The text does not itself set a deadline: the 1 September 2026 date remains the one communicated by Brussels Mobility.

A meeting is planned for mid-August 2026 between the competent regional bodies and the operators, to examine the Council of State ruling and explore possible solutions, particularly for shared bicycles.

Source: BRUZZ (3 August 2026). Confidence: estimated (letter contents reported by the press, not published).