The Seattle City Council on Tuesday voted 8-1 to approve a scooter-share pilot program. Transportation Committee Chair Alex Pedersen was the lone vote against the ordinance.
After an environmental review and an application process that garnered interest from nine scooter share companies, the city is ready to test the new mobility option later this year. Three companies will be allowed to operate up to 500 scooters each at the outset; that number could grow to 2,000 for each operator.
Last year, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan pledged to launch the pilot but the process was bogged down by bureaucratic hurdles and other municipal priorities.
The scooters will be capped at 15 MPH, and 8 MPH for the first ride. Riding is allowed on bike lanes, public paths, and roads with a 25 MPH or less speed limit. Scooters are not allowed on sidewalks unless as part of a bike route. They can be parked in bike racks, in furniture zones — the area between the roadway curb face and the front edge of the walkway — and in scooter parking corrals.
The city will have “incentivized helmet use”; city law already mandates that scooter riders wear helmets. Safety is a key issue for city leaders as studies indicate that scooter-related injuries are on the rise, particularly among riders who don’t wear helmets.
Scooters will join shared bicycles on Seattle’s streets. Bike-share services disappeared earlier this year due to the pandemic but Lime said last month that it plans to have 2,000 JUMP bikes back in Seattle by this fall.
“After being the first city to have free floating bikeshare, Seattle is taking another major step toward a more sustainable future,” Jonathan Hopkins, Lime’s director of strategic development for the Northwest, said in a statement. “It’s now more important than ever for residents to have safe, socially-distant transportation options—like bikes and scooters—that can help reduce car congestion. We applaud the council for its vision and look forward to serving Seattle residents with e-bikes and scooters for many years to come.”
Lime and Spin are participating in a separate pilot program with King County in the White Center area, just south of downtown Seattle.
You can see the city council presentation here; and the draft pilot permit requirements here.
