The open-source initiative turns data from sensors already fitted to Bolt scooters into surface-quality ratings for wheelchair navigation. A pilot in Tallinn, Estonia, increased the city's available surface-quality data by 26%
-- Bolt, the European shared mobility platform, has launched Wheels4Wheels, an initiative that uses data from its scooters to give wheelchair users street-level information on surface quality. The initiative repurposes sensors already fitted to Bolt scooters to rate the surfaces they travel over. It releases the method and the data as open source, so cities, developers and navigation services can use them free of charge.
The project addresses what Bolt sees as the most overlooked mobility crisis of recent times. The World Health Organization estimates that around 80 million people, or 1% of the world's population, need a wheelchair. Yet according to studies, even in well-mapped cities, less than 15% of surface-quality data, which is crucial for wheelchair navigation, is available.
For wheelchair users, surface conditions are about more than comfort. Rough ground causes vibrations that can lead to chronic pain, and an unexpected obstacle can end a trip altogether. In the 2025 Euan's Guide Access Survey, 83% of disabled respondents said the extra time spent planning around accessibility leads to increased stress or anxiety. Mainstream navigation apps can route users around steps, but they generally cannot show whether a pavement is asphalt or cobblestone, or where a lowered kerb is. These details often decide whether a journey is possible.
"Being in a wheelchair trains you for the unexpected," said Hendra Raud, a wheelchair user and inclusive mobility advocate from Tallinn who contributed to the project. "Cobblestone makes your entire body ache, and not having a ramp can mess up your entire schedule. It's great to finally have a map of the world the way I actually experience it."
Bolt's scooters already have accelerometers, gyroscopes, GPS receivers and cameras, which support vehicle safety, maintenance and product development. Wheels4Wheels analyses the data these sensors record during rides. It gives each street segment a surface-quality score on a five-point scale, from smooth and passable to terrain a wheelchair user cannot cross.
The first pilot took place in Tallinn. Bolt scooters covered 550 km across all eight city districts. They captured 40.5 million accelerometer readings and more than 162,000 phototelemetry frames, producing 66,088 individual surface ratings. At the same time, volunteers mapped the city by hand so the team could check the method. A single scooter ride matched the manually verified data almost eight times out of ten. When several scooters travelled the same street, the rate rose to around nine times out of ten. The pilot increased the surface-quality information available for Tallinn by 26%. It also found streets that looked passable on existing maps but were difficult or impossible to navigate in practice.
"Every year, Bolt e-scooters cover millions of kilometres across hundreds of cities, registering every bump, slope, and uneven surface along the way," said Ardo Reinsalu, Director of Vehicles at Bolt. "Bolt has long shared that data with city partners to help improve roads and pavements for everyone. Wheels4Wheels takes that a step further by making the same information available directly to the people who need it most, without building a new app, but improving the maps they already use."
"Accessibility has long been part of Bolt's mission to make cities work better for everyone," said Mare Heinluht, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Bolt. "For someone using a wheelchair, a route is more than a line on a screen. The condition of the pavement, the presence of a kerb ramp or the steepness of a slope can determine whether a journey is possible at all.
Wheels4Wheels helps make that information more visible."
Wheels4Wheels was designed around the needs of wheelchair users, but the same information can help other people who face barriers in cities. These include parents with pushchairs, older people using mobility aids, travellers carrying luggage and people recovering from injuries.
The full Wheels4Wheels pipeline is released as open-source software under an MIT licence, so any city, developer or organisation can access, run and adapt it. The data is published on the Wheels4Wheels website, ready to be integrated into OpenStreetMap, the open, community-built map database. OpenStreetMap data is used by major technology companies: Apple credits it as a map data source for Apple Maps, and Microsoft uses map data that combines OpenStreetMap with other sources through the Overture Maps Foundation, of which it is a founding member.
The project is the first of its kind in the micromobility industry. To extend its impact beyond Bolt, the company is creating a blueprint that other operators across the mobility industry can adopt and build on.
Wheels4Wheels was developed with people who have lived experience of the problem and relevant expertise. Contributors included Hendra Raud; Lucy Webster, a UK journalist and public speaker focusing on accessibility; and Tom Ruutel, an accessibility advisor for people with mobility impairments. Partner organisations included 1ar labs, which built the technical workflow; Serviceplan Group, which developed the creative concept; Nafta, which coordinated the manual data collection; and We Make Them Wonder and B.east, which produced the film.
More information about the initiative, its method and the published data is available on the Wheels4Wheels website.
About Bolt
Bolt is Europe's largest e-bike and scooter rental operator, with more than 230,000 vehicles available for rent across more than 25 countries and 270 cities. It offers passengers convenient and affordable options for shorter and longer journeys and provides first- and last-mile options that connect to public transport.
Contact Info:
Name: Vera Bruckauf
Email: Send Email
Organization: Bolt
Website: https://bolt.eu/
Release ID: 89207004
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