E-scooters on their way to Seattle

Meghan Walker Ballard

Seattle is one of the last big cities without electric scooters zooming around, but that appears to be changing soon: Mayor Jenny Durkan has announced she wants to create a pilot program to bring the rentable scooters to the city.

Back in September, one of Lime’s scooters (known as Lime-S) was spotted in Ballard, which turned out to be a private demo. But now, Mayor Durkan says it’s time to get on the e-scooter bandwagon.

“Let’s try scooters,” she wrote in a guest post on GeekWire. “But let’s do it right by promoting safety, requiring fairness for riders and indemnification for the City, focusing on equity, and by building on – not losing – the best of bike share.”

Mayor Durkan says the pilot program will develop a comprehensive e-scooter framework for specifics such as hours of use, where they can be used, parking, helmet requirements, and speed limits. One of Durkan’s key points is how to introduce scooters without taking away from the city’s successful bike share program.

According to the Seattle Times, the city will begin drafting the pilot program in the coming weeks, and will likely start accepting applications from scooter companies in the fall. However, it will probably be early next year before e-scooters officially hit the streets.

Photos by Lauri Miller

21 thoughts to “E-scooters on their way to Seattle”

  1. Will it be illegal to “park” them in crosswalks or on sidewalks? Will the violators get ticketed and the vehicles towed?
    Disabled folks, especially the blind, have been vexed by the failure to enforce parking laws when violated by cyclists. Time to unleash Parking Enforcement Officers!

    1. I think there needs to be an education campaign for the public who use these services. I truly believe that most people will do the right thing if they know what the right thing to do is.

      1. Yes, that applies to all parking. But parking violations happen everywhere and the fines fund other services.
        Please don’t adopt a double standard. Unequal enforcement undermines confidence in government.

        1. So your down vote implies you are against educating people on appropriate parking practices, stretching our already stressed police force to try to hunt down and ticket people who have left bikes/scooters incorrectly and long since left the area, or both?

          1. I think anyone that gets on the internet to protect cars (2000 pound killing machine) has some serious issues.

          2. We are talking about e-bikes and e-scooters here. Please work on your comprehensive reading skills.

          3. I think it’s you that needs to work on your skills. Amphidextrous was talking about how cars flaunt laws constantly and it would be wrong to single out those who can’t afford a car (or find it morally objectionable to kill the environment).

            Thanks!

          4. “Will it be illegal to “park” them in crosswalks or on sidewalks? Will the violators get ticketed and the vehicles towed?”
            Unless there is a seriously misplaced modifier “them” refers to the subject at hand, meaning e-bikes and e-scooters. I believe Amphidextrous is a more skilled communicator than you are giving credit for. Back to your bridge, Troll.

          5. So this user has multiple posts and I was referring the second one.

            I feel you are purposefully being argumentative.

          6. I feel that for someone who claims to be anti-drug/alcohol you present like a heavy user of both.

            You are the one who walked in swinging with your off base input and “serious issues.”

          7. This website has just turned into a few bullies making personal insults to those they disagree with.

          8. “I think anyone that gets on the internet to protect cars (2000 pound killing machine) has some serious issues.” said the kettle.

            If you want to troll online you need to bring better than the intellectual equivalent to a spoon at a knife fight.

          10. It was a non sequitur so it makes sense you’d stand by it. You also stand by all of your statements harassing and degrading school children so….. ya know.

          12. What does Brock Turner have to do with your constant and insane comments about our local school children?

            Smoke another bowl, Troll.

          13. This website has just turned into a few bullies making personal insults to those they disagree with.

            You keep purposefully trying to steer conversations to irrelevant topics as part of some weird attempt to get a rise out of people and get mocked for doing so.

            That’s not bullying.

  2. My dream of cows and rickshaws on Market St. now doesn’t seem that far off. While at it, SDOT should simply also remove all signals at all intersections too. We really do need more chaos and distractions on the streets. No shirts, no shoes, no dice dude!

    1. I see people using e-scooters all over downtown/Pioneer Square. A lot of downtown delivery and messenger services are using them now. They make sense as they are smaller and less intrusive than bikes. I could see myself using one to zip to the store or an appointment that is a long walk or short bus ride.

      I hope they are allowed in bike lanes, disallowed on sidewalks and that there are parameters on where they can be left when one is done.

      PS – I am not a tech bro.

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