The big scooter bounce back begins. Scooter operators have had a hard few months — but now they’re springing back into action. Who’s taken the lead?
Lockdowns across Europe were not great for scooter startups. Usage plummeted as tourists disappeared from city centres, locals stayed in their houses and even workers who were venturing out were concerned about just how hygienic shared transport really is.
Swedish scooter operator Voi shut down operations in all but six of its markets. Berlin-based Tier postponed a launch in Rome, pulled out of Turin and Malaga and scaled back across all markets. US operator Lime stopped services in Europe completely.
Usage today
Scooters are a seasonal business — usage peaks in the summer, and dive bombs in winter — which makes comparing how many rides are taken in May to how many rides were taken in February somewhat wonky. The scooter market is also still a very young one — most operators have been in business less than two years — so making comparisons to this time last year (when most operators were live in far fewer markets) also has its flaws.
Still, Dott says usage of its scooters jumped back to pre-Covid levels in all cities when lockdowns ended: on Monday 11 May people took the same number of rides as on Monday 9 March. Now usage is even higher, the company says.
Tier’s operations remain closed in Italy and Spain, but Roger Hassan, chief operating officer, says that overall usage is not too bad. “We’re at levels we were seeing in October last year,” he says; not quite the numbers the company was hoping for in May, but not a disaster. Germany and the Nordics are making quite a big comeback, he adds. Meanwhile, Voi says usage is back up to 50% compared to last May.