Rome is preparing for a sudden stop of bike sharing and electric scooter services, with significant consequences for urban mobility. As reported by The Republicstarting from 7 January 2026 – immediately after the end of the truce granted for the Jubilee – the capital could find itself completely without shared micromobility vehicles for a continuous period of thirty days.
A measure that will affect not only tourists, but above all Roman citizens who use these means of transport every day to travel the so-called “last mile”, i.e. that final stretch that connects public transport to the place of work or study. The decision would have been made within the Capitol following the accumulation of numerous violations by the three main operators of the service, namely Lime, Dott and Bird. During the Holy Year, in fact, companies did not respect the regulations governing the distribution and presence of vehicles in the urban area, especially in some sensitive areas of the city.
According to institutional sources, the fines amount to around 30 thousand euros per month, a figure which, despite the temporary suspension of sanctions during the Jubilee, has reached a level that is no longer sustainable. For this reason, the Municipality of Rome would now be forced to proceed with a collective sanction in the form of a total suspension of the service, to be applied for a consecutive month starting from the closure of the Holy Door, scheduled for the beginning of January.
Record numbers for sharing services in Rome
Despite some critical issues – such as wild parking on the pavements or the improper use of scooters by some users -, the data confirms the growing importance of micromobility in the capital. This was also underlined by the Transport Councilor Eugenio Patanè, who declared:
We are riding on approximately 8.7 million scooter rentals in 2024, and nearly 2.4 million bicycle rentals. In total we are talking about over 11 million uses, which rise to almost 14 million if we also include car sharing and scooter sharing.
These numbers make it clear that Rome is the Italian city with the largest number of sharing vehicles: there are around 13,500 electric scooters available, compared to 6,000 in Milan and 4,000 in Turin. On the bicycle front, however, Rome ranks second after Milan, with 7,000 electric bicycles compared to 10,000 in the Lombardy capital.
It wouldn’t be the first time
It is not the first time that the Capitol has decided to hit micromobility operators with drastic measures. Already in 2020, for example, three companies were suspended for 15 days for irregularities in the management of scooters. Then, in 2022, a new tender drastically reduced the number of vehicles in circulation, from over 14 thousand to 9 thousand. And in the recent past, Roman bike sharing has also experienced sudden stops and withdrawals by operators such as oBike. In short, the January suspension would be part of a history already marked by interruptions and forced adjustments.
Waiting for the trams to return…
If there is a small positive note, it concerns the return of the trams, which should all be operational again in January. In fact, they are currently stopped for work on the eastern ring road entrusted to Anas, but the interruption is only expected for two months. However, this recovery will coincide precisely with the moment in which bike sharing and scooters are deactivated, leaving a significant gap in alternative urban connections.
A paradoxical situation for a European capital which, in recent years, has made sustainable mobility one of its main axes of development. The suspension risks creating major inconveniences, especially for those who rely on these rapid, economical and ecological means of transport to get around the city every day.
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