Rotterdam's streets are abuzz with a diverse fleet of shared electric vehicles, offering residents and visitors alike sustainable transportation alternatives. From nimble e-scooters to family-friendly cargo bikes, the city's shared mobility options continue to expand, providing eco-conscious alternatives to traditional car travel.

Electric scooters

Rotterdam's electric scooter scene is primarily served by two providers: Check and Felyx. These companies offer emission-free vehicles that have become a common sight throughout the city. Both offer scooters (mopeds) with two speed options: up to 25 km/h (blue license plates) or 45 km/h (yellow license plates). A blue licence plate means you're allowed on the bike path, whereas a yellow licence plate means you need to drive on the road together with cars. Helmets are mandatory for all riders, regardless of the scooter’s speed.

Both services operate via apps, allowing you to rent a scooter, unlock it, and pay per minute of usage. The scooters are widely available across the city, and the coverage areas of Check and Felyx are fairly similar, focusing on Rotterdam and its surroundings. They both contribute to reducing traffic and pollution, offering a convenient, eco-friendly way to get around the city.

Electric bicycles

If you prefer pedal power, Rotterdam offers three bicycle-sharing options: Lime, Felyx, and Donkey Republic.

Lime operates a fleet of shared electric bicycles in Rotterdam. These provide an assisted cycling experience, making longer journeys more manageable.

Felyx launched its blue e-bikes in early 2025. They use the same Felyx app, so existing scooter users can hop on a bike without creating a new account. Availability is growing citywide and pricing matches the per-minute model used for mopeds.

Donkey Republic offers both regular and electric bicycles, identifiable by their bright orange colour. Their pricing structure includes hourly rates and various membership options, with day deals available for longer rentals.

Both providers operate through mobile apps, allowing users to locate and unlock bicycles easily throughout the city.

Electric bicycles: Lime available in Rotterdam

Electric bicycles: Felyx available in Rotterdam

Electric cargo bikes

Looking to transport goods or children? Rotterdam offers one cargo bike option: BAQME.

BAQME provides electric cargo bikes capable of carrying significant loads. These e-box bikes are suitable for transporting children, pets, or groceries, offering a practical alternative to car journeys for families and businesses alike.

BAQME's cargo bikes are equipped with child seats and safety features, making them suitable for family transport as well as general cargo.

City regulations

To manage the growth of shared mobility services, Rotterdam has implemented a permit system. The city allows for a specific number of shared vehicles, including mopeds and light mopeds. Providers must comply with specific guidelines to operate in the city, ensuring safety and minimising nuisance.

Future outlook

The landscape of shared electric vehicles in Rotterdam continues to evolve. While some providers may leave the market, new ones often emerge to take their place. The city remains committed to supporting shared mobility as part of its strategy to maintain accessibility and environmental friendliness.

As Rotterdam continues to innovate in urban mobility, these shared electric vehicles are likely to play an increasingly important role in the city's transportation ecosystem. Whether for commuting, leisure, or running errands, these options provide flexible and sustainable alternatives to traditional transport methods.

It is worth noting that the shared mobility landscape can change rapidly. Users are advised to check the latest information directly from service providers or the city of Rotterdam for the most up-to-date details on availability, pricing, and regulations.

ROTTERDAM, 17 December 2024 – Car-sharing company Greenwheels continues to expand its presence in Rotterdam, reporting significant growth in users and vehicles while increasing its electric fleet. Plans are underway for a substantial expansion in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond region.

Greenwheels expands fleet and electric vehicles in Rotterdam

Greenwheels has announced its 2024 figures, revealing steady growth in the number of car-sharing users and vehicles, including a focus on electric cars. In Rotterdam, the company’s fleet grew to 291 cars by the end of the year, an increase of 104 vehicles, of which 80 are electric. This brings the share of electric cars in the city to 39%. Greenwheels also saw a 16% increase in Rotterdam-based users.

The most utilised Greenwheels car in Rotterdam was a Volkswagen Up! stationed near the Mariniershof/Kipstraat corner, which was in use 49% of the time, far surpassing private car usage, which averages just 5%.

Car-sharing trends and impact

Nationally, Greenwheels added 38,314 new users in 2024, expanding its total fleet to 2,900 vehicles, an increase of 140 compared to the previous year. The company observed particular growth in business-to-business (B2B) usage, with a 31% increase, driven by freelance professionals and small enterprises. Electric rides within this market segment grew sharply by 96%.

Research highlights the spatial benefits of car-sharing, as a single shared car can replace up to 14 private vehicles (Goudappel, 2023). With urban areas such as Rotterdam facing increasing space constraints, initiatives like Greenwheels aim to free up space for green areas, housing, or recreational spaces.

Ambitious plans for Rotterdam and beyond

Despite a challenging mobility market, Greenwheels has outlined its strategy to further accelerate expansion. The company plans to grow its fleet from 2,900 vehicles to 4,000 by 2026. A significant portion of this growth will target the Rotterdam-Rijnmond region, including municipalities such as Schiedam, where Greenwheels aims to increase its fleet from 9 to 29 vehicles.

The company sees this expansion as a means to enhance urban liveability while providing sustainable transport solutions for both urban and rural areas.

ROTTERDAM, 24 March 2025 – A new campaign and stricter regulations have been introduced in Rotterdam to reduce the nuisance caused by shared scooters and bikes parked improperly across the city.

Rotterdam addresses nuisance from wrongly parked shared vehicles

Shared scooters, bikes and cargo bikes have become a common sight across Rotterdam, offering a more sustainable alternative to short car journeys. However, many residents have voiced concerns about the inconvenience caused by these vehicles when they are left blocking pavements and walkways.

To address this, the municipality has launched a campaign urging users to park more responsibly. This initiative is part of a broader strategy that includes stricter rules for shared transport providers and an expansion of designated parking hubs.

Campaign calls for courteous parking

Alderman Pascal Lansink-Bastemeijer stated, “Shared scooters and bikes are useful for the city, but they must be parked properly. Too often they block the pavement, creating real difficulties for people in wheelchairs, pushing prams or those with mobility issues. With these measures, we are asking everyone to be more considerate.”

The campaign encourages users to:

• Park in designated hubs where possible

• Align scooters or bikes neatly alongside others

• Leave space for people with prams or wheelchairs

• Avoid parking on tactile paving for the visually impaired

Increase in parking hubs across the city

Since their introduction, designated shared mobility hubs have played a key role in reducing clutter. Marked by white street boxes and green teardrop-shaped signs, these hubs offer fixed points for parking.

Currently, there are 140 such hubs across Rotterdam. An additional 40 are planned by the end of the year. These hubs are equipped with geofences—digital boundaries preventing vehicles from being parked outside the approved areas. Locations are selected based on reports of nuisance and data on shared vehicle usage.

Stricter requirements for operators

New permits for shared mobility providers came into effect in February 2025. The municipality has tightened requirements to minimise inconvenience. Operators are now expected to implement reward systems, awareness campaigns and introduce a 'parking score' for users. Repeated offences can lead to penalties or platform bans.

Shared mobility usage statistics

In 2023, approximately 9.7 million kilometres were travelled using shared bikes, cargo bikes and scooters in Rotterdam. On average, each scooter was used twice per day. Although usage is high in central areas, districts such as Prins Alexander, IJsselmonde, Charlois and Hillegersberg-Schiebroek also see significant activity.

The municipality aims to boost usage in outer districts and will reopen permit applications in May. The goal is to expand availability to 3,000 shared bikes and 750 cargo bikes.

For more information, visit: rotterdam.nl/deelvervoer

ROTTERDAM, 13 February 2024 – A leap towards unified urban mobility, as a local platform brings all scooter sharing services under one digital roof.

umob pioneers in integrating all Dutch scooter sharing providers into a single app

In a notable development for the Netherlands' mobility landscape, the Rotterdam-based mobility platform umob has become the first Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform to fully integrate all Dutch scooter sharing providers. The platform's recent expansion to include Check, alongside existing partners such as Felyx, GO Sharing, public transport, taxis, and shared bicycles, now offers users access to 50,000 vehicles through a single application. This integration not only spans the Netherlands but also extends to major cities across Europe, with plans to further broaden coverage across the continent.

MaaS platforms are designed with the traveler in mind, consolidating various travel options within one application. Users can now navigate and transact with all service providers through the umob app, benefiting from the same rates as those offered directly by the providers. The inclusion of Check enhances user convenience in municipalities where scooter sharing is available, enabling easy booking and payment for transportation. The app's service portfolio also includes shared (cargo) bikes, public transportation, and taxis.

Bibi Jorissen, Managing Director of umob, emphasized the importance of providing a viable alternative to private vehicle ownership in cities and provinces. "To achieve this, a travel option should be available within a three-minute walk. While scooter sharing offers a solution within urban areas, the density of individual providers is insufficient. By amalgamating all scooter sharing services into one app, umob ensures the availability of a nearby scooter without the need to switch between different apps."

300,000 vehicles across Europe

With the addition of Check, umob now facilitates access to 50,000 vehicles throughout Europe, including in cities like Barcelona, Brussels, Lisbon, Paris, Madrid, Milan, and Rome. Through partnerships with international providers such as Cooltra, Bolt, and Donkey Republic, umob aims to expand its offering to 300,000 vehicles by 2024, thereby hosting the largest array of transportation options within Europe.

Jorissen highlighted the international demand for a comprehensive mobility platform: "Across Europe, solutions to mobility challenges in and between major cities are being sought. Our platform is part of this solution, and we deem it important to offer our services internationally. By collaborating closely with international mobility providers, we can quickly increase our offering in multiple countries and extend the benefits of our MaaS app."

Interested in checking out the umob app?

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.umob.umob
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/umob/id1639871537