MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee's Department of Public works has selected three companies to deploy rentable, electric scooters as part of a pilot program on city streets this year.
During a meeting Wednesday, Associate Transportation Planner Kate Riordan said the department considered proposals from six scooter operators, and in the end selected proposals from the three companies the city worked with during its first scooter pilot program: Spin, Lime and Bird.
"They all had very strong proposals, and especially these three operators, had really great plans for deterring sidewalk riding and for providing adaptive scooters," said Riordan.
Riordan said they are aiming to launch the pilot program on June 1. Under the plan, Spin, Lime and Bird would each be allowed to deploy as many as 1,000 rentable scooters.
This is the latest development as the city experiments with bringing rentable scooters to streets on a full-time basis.
In April, the Common Council approved a new pilot program to offer scooters temporarily in the city. DPW then went out to obtain and, this week, approve plans with scooter operators.
This is the second time scooters have been allowed a test run in the city. The first pilot program allowed scooters onto city streets in 2019.
The purpose of this second pilot program is to drill down the best way of operating rentable electric scooters in the city. The scooters would join Milwaukee's rentable Bublr Bikes system.
DPW says the most pressing issue that needs to be fixed is the danger of scooters riding on sidewalks. Scooters are treated the same as bicycles, prohibited from city sidewalks.
