SPOKANE, Wash. — Lime scooters will return to the streets of Spokane thanks to a two-year contract approved by Spokane City Council on Monday.
The contract was approved on June 6 after months of negotiation. The city’s previous contract with the scooter company ended in 2023. Due to the rising concerns over scooters being thrown into the Spokane River, a contract was not renewed for 2024.
Unfortunately, our beautiful river has been used for decades to dump things,” Jerry White Jr., executive director at the Spokane Riverkeeper, said.
To combat this concern, new features emphasizing proper parking, new camera-based sidewalk-riding detection technology and improved river retrieval processes requiring recovery within 24 hours will be implemented. The contract also includes equity requirements for underserved areas and a limited number of seated scooters.
City council said any scooter or bike parked incorrectly must be re-parked within two hours of receiving the notification. A fine for wrongly parked vehicles will be implemented, determined by the user-taken, end-of-trip photos.
Under the contract, Lime will pay the city $17,000 per year with an additional charge of 75 cents per vehicle per day.
“The average trips per day in previous years is 1,300 with more than 1.6 million trips total since the beginning of operations in Spokane in 2019,” City council said.
To ride a Lime scooter or bike, you must be 18 or older.
For more information, visit the City of Spokane’s website.
