E-scooters in Brussels: renting until 31 December 2026, prices, drop zones and the 2027 ban

Can you still rent an e-scooter in Brussels?

Yes, until 31 December 2026, from Bolt and Dott, the two operators the region chose at the end of 2023, under a transitional arrangement announced on 21 August 2026.

The last day is 31 December 2026: the Brussels government has decided there will be no shared e-scooters in the Brussels-Capital Region from 1 January 2027. Your own e-scooter stays legal.

On 12 October 2026 the map around Brussels showed about 6,000 of them, some 3,300 from Dott and 2,700 from Bolt: a snapshot, not an official fleet size. To rent one:

1. Find the nearest scooter on the map: ScootRadar shows Bolt and Dott together.
2. Open the operator’s app, create an account and scan your ID document.
3. Scan the QR code on the scooter and ride on the cycle lane or the road.
4. Park it upright in a drop zone and end the ride.

Every step in detail: how to rent an e-scooter.

The Brussels e-scooter ban from 1 January 2027: what was decided

On 11 June 2026 the Brussels government decided to grant no more licences for shared e-scooters after 2026. It pointed to 666 people injured in e-scooter accidents in the region in 2025 (all e-scooters, not only shared ones; 26% more than in 2024), to blocked pavements and to crime: the Brussels prosecutor said shared scooters had been used in 25 shootings over the previous year.

On 29 July 2026, ruling on appeals by Lime, the Council of State annulled every Brussels licence for shared scooters and free-floating bikes, Bolt’s and Dott’s included. Brussels Mobility first told the operators to clear the streets by 1 September; then, on 21 August, Minister-President Boris Dilliès and mobility minister Elke Van den Brandt announced a transitional arrangement: shared scooters may stay until 31 December 2026, while the end on 1 January 2027 stands.

According to the press, a new ordinance still has to make the ban final; as of 12 October 2026 we had found no such text. Either way, only shared scooters go. Your own e-scooter stays legal, though from 1 June 2027 no e-scooter may go faster than 20 km/h anywhere in the Brussels Region.

Shared bikes take over: under the transitional arrangement, up to 2,500 free-floating bikes per operator until May 2028, then two licences of 4,800 bikes each, awarded by tender.

Bolt or Dott: e-scooter prices in Brussels

You pay to unlock, then by the minute; the app shows the final price.

Ride passes and subscriptions are priced only in the apps. Worth knowing: Bolt’s e-bike costs less than either scooter.

Age and ID: who can rent an e-scooter in Brussels?

Belgian law lets you ride an e-scooter from 16, but Bolt and Dott rent only to over-18s in Belgium. At 16 or 17 you may ride your own scooter, not a shared one.

Since 3 December 2025, both operators have made every Brussels user scan an identity document in the app before the first unlock. The check followed concerns from several mayors about shootings and drug dealing.

Dott accepts a national ID card, driving licence, passport or residence permit in Brussels; Bolt’s terms mention a driving licence or another official ID. Just arrived and still waiting for your Belgian residence card? Use your passport with Dott, and set up the account before you walk to the scooter.

Drop zones: where to park an e-scooter in Brussels

Since 1 February 2024 you can end a ride only in a drop zone. Anywhere else the app won’t lock the scooter, and the meter keeps running.

A drop zone is either a box painted on the ground or an area that exists only in the app. The region counted 2,287 on 21 November 2025; the City of Brussels lists 400 of its own, 226 of them in the Pentagon, the old centre inside the inner ring. Find the nearest in the app before you arrive, and leave the scooter upright.

• Uccle has no drop zones on its own municipal streets, only on regional roads, and in the south of the commune you can neither ride nor park a Dott.
• Brussels Airport is in Zaventem, outside the region: you can’t end a ride there.

Bad parking costs money, on top of any police fine:

Speed limits and no-go zones: Grand-Place, parks and stations

Shared e-scooters are limited to 20 km/h across the region and, under Brussels rules, to 8 km/h in pedestrian zones and parks. The app enforces this by GPS, slowing or stopping the scooter, and Bolt’s and Dott’s limits differ.

The city-centre pedestrian zone, the piétonnier, covers Boulevard Anspach, the Bourse, the Grand-Place and the streets around them. The semi-pedestrian stretch of Chaussée d’Ixelles, between Chaussée de Wavre and Place Fernand Cocq, is 8 km/h too. By law you ride at walking pace in a pedestrian zone and give way to people on foot, or risk a €191 fine.

The City of Brussels plans to keep the busiest part of the central boulevards for pedestrians only in the daytime and evening. We found no date: follow the signs.

If the scooter stops, push it out of the zone. Catching a Eurostar or TGV at Brussels-Midi, or just off one? Start and end your ride in a drop zone outside the station area.

E-scooter rules in Belgium: what gets you fined

Under Belgian law an e-scooter rider counts as a cyclist. The essentials:

Between the lower town (the Bourse, the Grand-Place) and the upper town (Mont des Arts, Place Royale, the Sablon), the streets climb steeply, often over cobblestones, and on that route the scooter can stop dead in the Galeries Royales or Brussels Park. Cross tram rails as close to a right angle as you can. In the metro, STIB asks you not to ride in corridors or on platforms, and to leave shared scooters at street level.

New Year’s Eve. From noon on 31 December 2025 to 9:00 on 1 January 2026, every e-scooter, private ones included, was banned across the region. As of 12 October 2026 it was not known whether the ban would return on 31 December 2026, the last day of shared scooters.

Alternatives to e-scooters in Brussels: shared e-bikes and Villo!

Bolt’s and Dott’s shared e-bikes stay after 31 December 2026. Their public data showed about 1,700 each in Brussels on 12 October 2026, and Bolt has just added 500 more, La Libre reported. You park them in drop zones too.

Villo!, JCDecaux’s docked bike network, had 338 stations in 2025 and runs until September 2028, before a new station-based e-bike network. It works by subscription; prices are on villo.be.

One last scooter ride before 1 January? Find the nearest Bolt or Dott on the map of Brussels.

Did you know? Brussels e-scooter facts

• Brussels got its first shared e-scooters in 2018: Troty at the end of June, then Bird in September, at €1 plus €0.15 a minute, half what Bolt charges per minute today.
• On 1 February 2024 Brussels went from seven operators to two, and from about 20,000 shared scooters to 8,000.
• When Lime’s licence ran out on 2 July 2025, some 6,000 Lime scooters and bikes left the streets the next day. A year later, Lime’s appeal brought down Bolt’s and Dott’s licences too.