As Portugal marks its first year offering shared electric scooters in a growing number of cities, the benefits of carbon-free micromobility are coming clearly into focus.

The country has seen more than 1.8 million electric scooter rides taken by both residents and visitors in the 365 days following Lime’s inaugural launch in Lisbon. The majority of these have been made in a capital city whose drivers lose an average of 162 hours every year stuck in trafficaccording to INRIX. That’s more than Istanbul, Sao Paulo and Berlin, all of which have significantly larger populations.

The environmental impact of Lime’s 1.8 million scooter rides is being felt in the Portuguese capital as well. Factoring in precise modeshift data pulled from city-specific mobility surveys, Lime riders have prevented an estimated 120 metric tonnes (120,000 kgs) of CO2 from being emitted nationwide.

This number, from one electric scooter operator, demonstrates the potential of micromobility to play a major role in Lisbon’s push to become a European Green Capital. Approximately 20% of the city’s carbon emissions currently come from road traffic, and sustainable mobility options like Lime combined with green infrastructure implementation will play a key role in reducing that number moving forward.

To help drive this point home, Lime's local team in Portugal created a billboard that darkens with pollution to help draw attention to the need for more sustainable mobility options in the nation's capital. The awareness campaign ran during European Mobility Week from September 16-22.

“We’re very proud of these initial results, and grateful for the openness and collaboration of the Lisbon City Council,” said Alvaro Salvat, Managing Director of Lime in Portugal and Spain. “Throughout the past year, Lime has undertaken several groundbreaking initiatives to promote more sustainable mobility habits in Lisbon, and we’re excited about the innovative new product features and service enhancements to come.”

The results of Portugal’s first year of electric scooter sharing come on the heels of a new scooter sustainability report in Paris led by Lime and leading transportation planning firm Sam Schwartz Engineering. The report details the environmental impact that more than 12 million electric scooter rides have had on one of the world’s most visited cities.

To learn more about micromobility milestones from around Europe and the rest of the world, subscribe to 2nd Street, or download the Lime app to take an electric scooter ride in Portugal today.