Electric scooters make their seasonal debut to downtown Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - If you missed the well-known electric scooters that dotted downtown Lincoln last spring through fall, you’re in luck. This morning the scooters made their seasonal debut in downtown Lincoln, after a winter hiatus.

The electric scooters became a permanent fixture in downtown Lincoln last March after a 16-month pilot program that spanned late 2020 through May of 2021.

They’ve returned with the same service area as before, you can go from downtown Lincoln to other places outside of downtown to the south and east. Organizers hope this year will be a launching pad for future goals.

“With this being the first year of the official scooter program, we’re really taking it one thing at a time,” Roberto Partida, Transportation Planner with Lincoln Transportation and Utilities said. “We’re currently working through the logistics of onboarding a second scooter operator.”

Right now, the company supplying the inventory of 250 scooters is ‘Lime’.

One of the biggest concerns opponents had of the scooters when they first hit the streets was safety and sidewalk use.

“The biggest things to keep in mind when you’re on a scooter in the downtown environment, you are considered a motorized vehicle,” Partida said. “So stay on the street, don’t ride on the sidewalk.”

You must be 18 or older to ride, have a valid form of ID, not be used under the influence, yield to pedestrians, and walk scooters on the sidewalk when parking. For the complete list of guidelines you can find more on the Lincoln Transportation and utilities website.

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