Motorized Scooters A Headache For Denver Public Works

DENVER, CO -- Days after San Mateo-California-based Lime Bikes dropped 500 bright green electric scooters in downtown Denver, the Department of Public Works was scrambling to deal with their docklessness. The two-wheeled motorized contrivances reach speeds of 15 mph and can be rented by credit card app, then ditched anywhere.

"We were not notified of their plans to deploy in our community today until a couple of days ago," the agency tweeted last week. "We are concerned about the use, placement, & quantity of these scooters operating on Denver's sidewalks where we see a lot of peds."

Even though Lime Bike announced they would be rounding up scooters in the evening and "redeploying" them in the morning, DPW began to confiscate scooters that were left blocking pedestrian walkways or streets.

The scooters cost $1 for the first 30 minutes and 15 cents a minute after that. They are unlocked with a credit card app. The scooters are meant to be ridden on the street, not the sidewalk, and preferably in the bike lanes. But puzzled scooter users were prowling sidewalks at 16th Street Mall this week.

DPW spokeswoman Nancy Kuhn said the agency was worried about pedestrian safety and mobility.

“Specifically, we are concerned about the use, placement, and quantity of these scooters operating on Denver’s sidewalks, particularly in areas of high pedestrian activity.”

The agency is working up a permit process for scooter-share, transportation reporter David Sachs wrote on Denver StreetsBlog.

Read more about the dockless scooter rollout across the country here.

Image via Lime Bikes YouTube