E-scooters in Cluj-Napoca: Bolt and Lime, where to ride and park, and the slow zones planned for parks and schools
Bolt and Lime rent e-scooters in Cluj-Napoca. Romanian law lets anyone of 14 or over ride one with no licence, makes a helmet compulsory under 16 on the carriageway, and keeps riders in the cycle lane or on roads with a 50 km/h limit, off the pavement unless it carries a cycle lane. The city’s 2020 rules ban leaving a rental scooter on a narrow pavement, at a stop or by a crossing, with fines of 200–400 lei, and in April 2026 the deputy mayor announced plans for slow and no-ride zones near schools and in parks and pedestrian areas.
Which e-scooter apps work in Cluj-Napoca?
Bolt and Lime rent e-scooters (trotinete electrice) in Cluj-Napoca, each through its own app. Drawing up new rules in spring 2026, the city hall began talks with Lime, which was open to them, and was to continue with Bolt, deputy mayor Dan Tarcea told Radio Cluj on 21 April 2026.
At 03:47 on Monday 2 November 2026, Romanian time, the Cluj-Napoca map showed about 320 Bolt scooters free to rent at that moment and about 650 Lime scooters as last counted.
Rental scooters come under the rules the Local Council adopted on 3 November 2020 (HCL 790/2020). An operator needs a yearly permit to use public land, the city may cap the number of scooters (art. 9), and each scooter must carry the operator’s name (art. 19).
Bolt and Lime also rent scooters in Bucharest. New to shared e-scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.
What does an e-scooter cost in Cluj-Napoca?
Each app shows its Cluj-Napoca price before you unlock, and its terms set any charge for bad parking.
The city’s 2020 rules set what bad parking costs:
- an operator must move a scooter left in a banned place within 120 minutes, or RADP, the city’s public-domain company, takes it away for a removal fee set by the Local Council (art. 18);
- leaving a scooter in a banned place is fined 200–400 lei, and so is an operator not moving it in time (art. 20); the local police give the fines (art. 22).
In local police checks in November 2022, 50 rental scooters parked in banned places were taken away, and operators were fined 38 times, 3,800 lei in all, for not moving scooters in time (city hall, 24 November 2022).
Can you ride an e-scooter in Cluj-Napoca? Age, helmet and licence
Yes, and you need no licence. Romania’s road law, OUG 195/2002, treats an e-scooter (trotinetă electrică) built for more than 6 km/h and no more than 25 km/h as a vehicle that needs no registration (art. 6 and 12), and lets anyone of 14 or over ride one on public roads (art. 70).
- Age: 14 by law. Each app sets its own minimum age for renting.
- Helmet: compulsory under 16 when you ride on the carriageway (art. 70).
- Passengers: banned. One person per scooter.
- Hands: both on the handlebar, says the law’s regulation, HG 1391/2006 (art. 161).
- ID: carry an identity document, the regulation says.
- Lights: at night, white or yellow at the front, red at the back, and reflectors (road law art. 70; regulation art. 14).
- Sober: riding under the influence of alcohol or drugs is banned, and the law sets no limit (regulation art. 161).
Where can you ride an e-scooter in Cluj-Napoca?
Cycle lane first, then the road, never the pavement. Where there is a cycle lane, ride only in it; without one, the law allows e-scooters only on roads with a 50 km/h limit (art. 41), in the lane by the kerb. The pavement is banned unless a cycle lane is marked on it (regulation art. 161). The city’s 2020 rules repeat the cycle-lane and 50 km/h rule and require riders not to hinder other road users (art. 4).
The regulation also bans riding two abreast, holding on to another vehicle, riding on black ice, ice or snow, and riding across a pedestrian crossing: get off and walk. On park paths you may ride only where you don’t get in the way of people on foot. Motorways and expressways are closed to e-scooters (road law art. 74).
Central pavements have been checked. In November 2022 the local police advised 74 people riding on the pavement on Regele Ferdinand, Memorandumului, Bulevardul Eroilor, Bulevardul 21 Decembrie 1989, Horea and Piața Unirii on the rules (city hall, 24 November 2022).
Near schools. On 15 October 2025 the city hall listed a 30 km/h limit around schools among the measures agreed earlier for school areas.
Cycle lanes. In October 2025 the city hall said it was investing €7.2 million in cycle lanes in both directions on Drumul Sfântul Ioan, between Făget and Mănăștur, with works to take 12 months (city hall, 28 October 2025).
Where can you park a rental e-scooter in Cluj-Napoca?
End the ride where the app allows, and never in the places the city’s 2020 rules list. They bind riders as well as operators (HCL 790/2020, art. 2 and 6):
| Place | Rule |
|---|---|
| Pavement narrower than 2 m | Banned |
| Pavement 2 m wide or more | Parallel to the kerb on the road side, in line with trees and posts, taking up no more than 0.5 m |
| Stops and pedestrian crossings | Banned along them and 25 m before and after |
| Junctions | Banned in them and within 10 m |
| Taxi ranks, car parking bays, green spaces | Banned |
| Building fronts and fences, entrances, building sites, drain and manhole covers | Banned |
| Pedestrian zones | Allowed, tucked away, not blocking fountains, archaeological remains or shop entrances |
In bad weather, at events, in emergencies and during works the city can have operators take their scooters off an area for a time (art. 11), so check the app before you end a ride.
Parks, pedestrian streets and schools: the slow zones planned in 2026
On 21 April 2026 Radio Cluj reported that the city hall would bring in new rules for rental scooters, drawn up after talks with the operators and backed by the police; deputy mayor Dan Tarcea, calling them a first in Romania, said:
- near schools, scooters would slow automatically from 25 to 10 km/h;
- at night, from 25 to 20 km/h;
- in parks and pedestrian areas their speed would drop to zero, so you would push the scooter through. He had in mind big, crowded parks (Parcul Central, Parcul Armătura, Parcul Feroviarilor and Parcul Detunata) and pedestrian areas such as Piața Unirii, Kogălniceanu or Universității.
He said the measures would be in place, with the operators, by the end of June 2026. They are not part of the city’s 2020 rules. If your scooter slows or stops in one of these places, get off and walk it through.
Romania’s e-scooter rules and fines in lei
Romanian fines are counted in fine points (puncte-amendă), each worth 5% of the gross minimum wage (road law art. 98). With the minimum wage at 4,325 lei since 1 July 2026 (HG 146/2026), one point is 216.25 lei. Most e-scooter offences are class II (art. 100: 4–5 points, 865–1,081.25 lei); the dangerous ones below are class III (art. 101: 6–8 points, 1,297.50–1,730 lei). Riders aged 14 to 17 pay half, and anyone who pays within 15 days pays half the minimum (OG 2/2001, art. 11 and 28).
| Rule | What applies | Who sets it | Fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum age | 14 | Road law art. 70 | – |
| Helmet | Compulsory under 16 on the carriageway | Road law art. 70 and 100 | 432.50–540.63 lei (class II, halved for a minor) |
| Where to ride | Cycle lane if there is one, else roads with a 50 km/h limit; kerb lane only | Road law art. 41; regulation art. 160–161 | 865–1,081.25 lei |
| Pavement and crossings | Banned unless the pavement carries a cycle lane; walk across crossings | Regulation art. 161 | 865–1,081.25 lei |
| Ice or snow | No riding when the road is covered in black ice, ice or snow | Regulation art. 161 | 865–1,081.25 lei |
| Passengers | Banned | Road law art. 70 | 865–1,081.25 lei |
| Alcohol or drugs | Banned when “under the influence”; the law sets no limit | Regulation art. 161; road law art. 101 | 1,297.50–1,730 lei |
| Lights at night | White or yellow at the front, red at the back, reflectors | Road law art. 70; regulation art. 14 | 1,297.50–1,730 lei |
| Red light, holding on to a vehicle, motorways | Banned | Road law art. 74 and 101; regulation art. 161 | 1,297.50–1,730 lei |
| Parking | Not on narrow pavements, by stops, crossings or junctions, or in the other places above | City: HCL 790/2020 | 200–400 lei |
None of the road law’s 2025–2026 amendments touched these e-scooter rules; the class III list has stood since 29 June 2024.
Buses, trams and the airport
Buses, trolleybuses and trams. CTP Cluj-Napoca, the city’s transport company, applies the Local Council’s rules of conduct on public transport (HCL 670 of 10 September 2019). Ask CTP before you bring your own scooter aboard.
The airport. An express bus, A1E, began running on 2 May 2023 between Avram Iancu International Airport, stopping at departures and arrivals, and Piața Mihai Viteazu in the centre; a ticket then cost 6 lei, by card on board. For current details the city hall now points to CTP’s page on line A1. The Bolt and Lime apps show whether you can end a ride near the terminal.
The Cluj-Napoca map shows the nearest Bolt or Lime scooter and the walk to it.
Did you know?
- A rental e-scooter in Cluj-Napoca may not be used for advertising. The city’s 2020 rules ban it and require the operator’s name on each scooter (HCL 790/2020, art. 19).
- Romanian law lets an e-scooter have a seat, as long as it is no higher than 540 mm on two wheels, or 400 mm on three (road law art. 6).
- 70% of Cluj-Napoca’s public transport fleet is electric, mayor Emil Boc said as 40 new electric buses entered service (city hall, 25 August 2026): 81 electric buses, 90 trolleybuses and 28 trams.
Questions
- Which e-scooter companies operate in Cluj-Napoca?
- Bolt and Lime, each in its own app, and the map shows both. Each needs a yearly permit from the city hall.
- Do you need a licence or a helmet to ride an e-scooter in Romania?
- No licence: anyone of 14 or over may ride one. A helmet is compulsory only under 16 on the carriageway. Each app sets its own minimum age for renting.
- Can you ride an e-scooter on the pavement in Cluj-Napoca?
- No, unless a cycle lane is marked on it. Use the cycle lane, otherwise a road with a 50 km/h limit, in the lane by the kerb; an adult is fined 865–1,081.25 lei.
- Where can you park a rental e-scooter in Cluj-Napoca?
- Where the app allows, and never on a pavement narrower than 2 m, within 25 m of a stop or crossing, within 10 m of a junction, on green spaces or in a parking bay. The fine is 200–400 lei.
- Can you ride a rental e-scooter in Cluj-Napoca’s parks?
- Only where you don’t hinder people on foot. On 21 April 2026 the deputy mayor said rental scooters would stop in big parks such as Parcul Central by the end of June 2026.
- What is the fine for riding an e-scooter drunk in Romania?
- Riding under the influence of alcohol or drugs is a class III offence: 1,297.50–1,730 lei for an adult since 1 July 2026. The law sets no limit, so don’t ride after drinking at all.