Lisbon council approves suspension of shared e-scooters, removal within 60 days

Council votes to end the scooter service

Lisbon's city council approved on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, the suspension of the current shared electric scooter system. The approved proposal gives operators 60 days to halt the service and remove all shared vehicles from the streets. The council presents the decision as a step toward a more organised and safer city, placing it alongside Paris, Madrid and Brussels, which it says have taken similar measures. The measure does not cover privately owned e-scooters. Carlos Moedas, the council's president, defended the choice in a statement sent to newsrooms:

It was a necessary step that we had to take.

Parking and safety complaints

The council justifies the suspension with a build-up of improper parking that blocks pavements and other public spaces. It names older people, people with reduced mobility, blind people, children and families with strollers as the groups most affected. The council removed 8,714 badly parked scooters by the end of July. Moedas told DN that the council collects more than 1,000 scooters a month because of poor parking, and that the year's total had already passed 8,000. The proposal also cites rising complaints about wrong-way riding and riding on pavements, and says remote-locking technology has proved insufficient to block vehicles in breach. Moedas also argued that soft mobility remains a priority:

Soft mobility is fundamental and something we support, but the different modes have to coexist and ensure safety and respect for everyone using public space.

Political split

Chega welcomed the proposal, while the PCP, Bloco de Esquerda and Livre opposed it and want the service kept. Some articles report that the approved text incorporates contributions from the PCP and the Bloco de Esquerda, so the parties' positions appear divided in coverage. The Socialist Party (PS) issued a statement calling the suspension an acknowledgment that the regulation and enforcement policy of Carlos Moedas had failed. The council is run by a coalition of PSD, CDS-PP and IL. The Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP) delivered a petition with about 20,000 signatures to the Lisbon Municipal Assembly, asking for a referendum on keeping the service.

Alternatives and accident data

The council plans to reinforce the GIRA bicycle network and cycling infrastructure, with more stations and bicycles. The approved text also requires a municipal soft-mobility regulation to be presented within one year. The GNR's figures show 547 e-scooter accidents in 2023 and 706 in 2024, the highest in the series it presented. Between 2019 and 2025 the GNR recorded about 1,900 accidents, which resulted in ten deaths, 88 serious injuries and 1,442 minor injuries.

What comes next

Operators face the 60-day deadline to stop the service and remove their vehicles if the proposal is adopted as approved. The council must present the soft-mobility regulation draft within one year of the decision. The ACP referendum petition remains before the Lisbon Municipal Assembly. Privately owned e-scooters stay outside the measure, according to the council's statement.