Bolt continues its expansion in Romania with new services and new cities added to the network. Markus Villig, the company’s CEO and founder, says Romania is one of Bolt’s fastest-growing markets and insists that the industry needs a fair regulatory framework: ride-hailing platforms should operate “under the same rules as taxi drivers.” Villig said that during recent meetings with representatives of the Bolojan government he found “a genuine willingness to support the business environment.”
Demand remains very high—Bucharest alone records over 150,000 daily ride-hailing orders, and more than 100,000 drivers nationwide collaborate with Bolt and Uber.
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The company is also preparing new mobility solutions aimed at reducing reliance on personal cars, including work on autonomous vehicle technology.
Electric scooters, introduced by Bolt in 2020, remain a sensitive topic. Cases of vandalism and theft are frequent, while accident numbers remain high: over 1,500 incidents in the first half of this year, according to G4Media. Villig says the main responsibility lies with local governments, which must first provide proper infrastructure.
“You need to regulate safety rules and parking first, but beyond that, it’s up to the authorities,” Villig says, noting that Bolt operates more than 200,000 scooters in over 200 European cities. Usage increases significantly, he adds, “when infrastructure exists.”
Villig argues against mandatory licenses for scooter riders but supports age and speed restrictions: “Overall, we don’t believe a license system is a good idea… Most countries require a minimum age of 16 and set speed limits.” He believes scooters capable of 50 km/h or more should be banned, while all others should be capped “at 25–30 km/h.”
The CEO says large cities can only unlock the full potential of micromobility through bold decisions, such as converting “10% of car lanes into bike lanes”—a model he says has already transformed Paris, Tallinn and Amsterdam, where “millions of people now use scooters safely.”
Photo: start-up.ro
