In Poland, the interest in e-mobility is still growing. Poles are increasingly switching from private cars and public transport to electrically powered devices such as scooters, bicycles, skateboards and shared e-scooters.

Key data about the shared e-scooter market in Poland

The data collected by Mobilne Miasto shows that the Polish market of shared electric scooters grew 2.5 times during the year: from 19 thousand two-wheelers vehicles available in 39 cities in 2020, to over 46 thousand vehicles available in 60 cities in 2021.

The greatest number of electric scooters are available in the largest cities of Poland – about 80% of the market:

• Warsaw (>10,000 vehicles; 22% of the market),
• Tri-City (nearly 10,000 vehicles; 21% of the market),
• Kraków (>6,000 vehicles; 13% of the market),
• Poznań (2.8 thousand vehicles; 6% of the market),
• Łódź (>2,000 vehicles; 5% of the market),
• Wrocław (2.1 thousand vehicles; 4.5% of the market),
• Szczecin (2.1 thousand vehicles; 4.5% of the market),
• Lublin (>1,000 vehicles; 2.3% of the market).

Scooters are also present in smaller cities such as Zielona Góra (300 vehicles), Płock (180 vehicles) or Bytom (100 vehicles).

The largest operators of electric scooters in Poland are:

• Lime (12.8 thousand vehicles in 19 cities; 28% of the market),
• Bolt (11.7 thousand vehicles in 24 cities; 25% of the market),
• Tier (>9.3 thousand vehicles in 13 cities; 20% of the market),
• Dott (7.1 thousand vehicles in 5 cities; 15.4% of the market),
• blinkee.city (3.8 thousand vehicles in 35 towns, 8.3% of the market).

Legal base for using scooters in Poland

According to the Highway Code, an electric scooter is an electrically powered, two-axle vehicle with a steering wheel, without a seat and pedals, and designed to be used only by the rider.

Adults and minors can ride the scooters, but a bicycle card is required. Children under the age of 10 are not allowed to use scooters in public places at all. According to the Code, the electric scooter can be used on a dedicated bicycle path or in a bicycle lane up to 20 km/h. If there is no bike path, but there is a speed limit of 30 km/h on the road, then scooter riders should use the road. Here too, there is a speed limit of 20 km/h for e-scooters. When both bicycle path and bicycle lane are missing, driving on the pavement is allowed, where the rider must be especially careful and give way to pedestrians. The speed of the scooter should be close to the speed of a pedestrian (approx. 7 km/h).

With the new 2022 year, new rules on penalties related to driving on the road have come into force in Poland, which also apply to electric scooters. The penalties for non-compliance depend on the offence.

• Exceeding the speed limit by more than 30 km/h – fine: not less than PLN 800.
• Blocking traffic or obstructing traffic by a motor vehicle driver – fine: from PLN 500.
• Failure to give way to pedestrians – fine: PLN 1,500.
• Overtaking at a pedestrian crossing – fine: PLN 1500.
• Violation of the ban on driving on the pavement or pedestrian crossing – fine: PLN 1,500.
• Failure to conduct due care or causing a threat by the perpetrator who is in a state of after drinking alcohol – fine: not less than PLN 2,000.

The impact of Covid-19 on the shared e-scooter market in Poland

Despite the restrictions introduced by the Polish government related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the market for shared electric scooters in 2020 developed at a rapid pace. Operators have expanded their scooters to many smaller towns in Poland. At that time, 12 operators were available on the market before the end of the season, offering 18.7 thousand e-scooters in almost 40 cities, which means an increase in the offer of these two-wheelers by as much as 100% compared to the previous year.