Two firms are set to get licenses to keep their 3,000 scooters speeding through Chicago until June 2026. And for the first time since shared e-scooters hit Chicago streets five years ago, city rules will allow the motorized two-wheelers to be ridden between midnight and 5 a.m.
Scooters
The program got the green light from the Chicago City Council in October after two pilot programs in 2019 and 2020 convinced city officials that the motorized two-wheelers will reduce congestion and encourage the use of public transportation throughout Chicago.
When the scooters return to Chicago's streets in the spring, they'll be banned from the Lakefront Trail, the 606 Trail, the Riverwalk and O'Hare Airport, city officials said.
City officials are hopeful that the two-wheeled vehicles will reduce congestion and encourage the use of public transportation throughout Chicago.
The Chicago City Council is poised to allow shared electronic scooters to return to Chicago streets this spring — including downtown and the 606 Trail, where they were banned in last year's pilot program.
Last year’s electric scooter program, which ran from August to December, saw an increase in the number of available scooters but a decline in overall ridership, according to a Chicago Department of Transportation report.
A push to make electric scooters a permanent part of the city’s transportation system stalled Thursday, with several aldermen telling transportation officials that the two-wheelers would create a nuisance on Chicago’s streets and sidewalks.
Chicago officials announced Friday they will consider making electric scooters a permanent part of the city’s transportation system after the results of a second trial run found a demand for the two-wheelers.
New data shows Chicagoans took approximately 640,000 rides on electric scooters during a four-month second trial run. That represents a significant decline from the initial test of the scooters in Chicago between June and July 2019.
While initial demand is lower than last year’s pilot program, city officials say they are encouraged by data and anecdotal accounts that the lock-to-cable requirement has reduced the number of instances of scooters blocking sidewalks.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, electric scooters are back on Chicago streets. What you need to know about this year’s program.
The three firms will scatter 10,000 scooters across much of the city — four times as many allowed during the summer of 2019 — but the scooters will not be allowed downtown or along the Lakefront or 606 trails, according to the city’s rules.
Some 10,000 scooters will be scattered throughout Chicago when the city’s second pilot program starts next month. It’s designed to settle once and for all the question of whether scooters should be allowed on Chicago’s streets.
Scooters will soon return to Chicago streets as part of a second pilot program despite the coronavirus pandemic and an initial run that ended with “mixed results,” city officials announced.
As city officials plan a second round of the electric scooter pilot program, meet a company that hopes its seated scooter will make the cut.
At a hearing Wednesday, Chicago aldermen voiced their concerns and hopes for the city’s second round of electric scooter testing that’s expected to kick off this summer.
