SPOKANE, Wash. – People in Spokane are used to seeing electric scooters available for rent lining the streets when the calendar turns to spring, but they’re nowhere to be found this year, as city leaders continue to negotiate a contract with different providers.
“My grandpa actually loves the electric scooters and he was like, ‘are they in Spokane yet?'” said graduate student Kiley Suter. “I had to tell him, ‘I’m pretty sure they take them away for the wintertime, and they come back out in the spring.'”
But this year, that hasn’t happened. The city’s contract with its previous provider, Lime, expired last November.
“I like them, I think that it makes the community a little more accessible,” Suter said. “I think it’s a fun way to get around the city.”
However popular they might be, the scooters aren’t without their fair share of concerns.
“I am pro the adventure and fun of Lime scooters, but they are a little scary sometimes because people be zippin’ real quick,” Olivia Hinds said. “I know of a few people that have gotten hurt on them.”
Plus, the city has struggled for years with parked scooters blocking sidewalks and ending up in the Spokane River.
“People leave them all over the place,” Hinds said. “I’ve seen them all up in the Spokane River, on the sides of roads, in places where they shouldn’t be parked and that ain’t great.”
The city says they’ve seen around 1,300 trips per day since they launched the WheelShare program with Lime bikes and scooters in 2019.
Last year saw record ridership, according to the city, with 557,000 rides, up significantly from 2022’s 369,000 rides.
City projections show the WheelShare program brings in about $100,000 to $200,000 in revenue annually.
City planner Ryan Shea told Spokane City Council members in a Monday meeting of the Urban Experience Committee that the city received three proposals when the contract went out to bid in February, with Lime remaining the preferred sole provider on a new two year contract.
“I think having multiple operators is what keeps costs low for everybody, helps increase accountability and helps the city of Spokane get served better,” said Council Member Jonathan Binge.
“I have similar concerns about accountability, but I’m skeptical that having multiple vendors will actually solve the problem,” Council Member Kitty Klitzke said. “What I would worry about is vehicle clutter that that might cause, that’s the only drawback I can see from having multiple vendors.”
Shea said a new contract with Lime would come with an increased emphasis on proper parking and procedures on who’s responsible for retrieving scooters out of the river, including potential fines.
“Let’s say the bike is picked up and relocated to a place it’s not supposed to be, who are we holding accountable for that action?” Council Member Michael Cathcart asked Shea at Monday’s meeting.
“Ultimately whoever the offender is,” Shea responded.
“How do we determine that?” Cathcart asked.
“That’s a good question,” Shea answered.
“I think that’s the point,” Cathcart said. “I think you should have it in the contract that we fine Lime, then Lime fines the rider.”
A contract hasn’t been agreed on by the city with a provider, and a timeline for an agreement wasn’t provided at Monday’s meeting.
