Scooter Safety Event Planned

Lincoln Transportation and Utilities invites the public to attend a ScooterLNK Safety Education Event Saturday, October 15 on North Seventh Street between “R” and “Q” streets. The free event from 8 a.m. to noon will outline safety and operating rules for Lime electric scooters. Lime will also offer free rides and give away helmets to participants.

The 16-month ScooterLNK pilot program, which ran from September 2020 to December 2021, saw more than 91,000 trips taken on electric scooters. More than 25,000 unique users participated in the pilot program.

The operating area for ScooterLNK has expanded to an area bordered roughly by Huntington Avenue to the north, South Street to the south, North 48th Street to the east and Southwest Second Street to the west. ScooterLNK’s operating hours have been extended by two hours and are now from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. Electric scooters will continue to not operate during Husker home football games.

Two electric scooter vendors will be operating in Lincoln, Lime and Veo. The access process is as follows:

• Lime electric scooter riders must download the “Lime–#RideGreen” app on a mobile device. The fees are $1 to unlock an electric scooter and 34 cents per minute to ride.
• Veo electric scooters will be available in spring 2023. Fees will be announced at that time.

Operation guidelines include:

• Riders must be over the age of 18 and hold a valid motor vehicle operator’s permit or a valid state issued ID.
• Riders are urged to wear a helmet for safety.
• Riders must follow all traffic rules, signals, and signs.
• Riders must ride in bicycle lanes or vehicle lanes with the flow of traffic.
• Riders must yield to pedestrians and walk electric scooters on sidewalks when parking.
• Only one rider is allowed on an electric scooter at a time.
• Riders must not ride electric scooters under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
• Electric scooters are not permitted on StarTran buses.
• Electric scooters are not permitted to be ridden on the sidewalks downtown, hiking or biking trails or UNL property.

  Electric scooters can be parked in the following areas:

• Within the furniture/landscape area of the City sidewalk public right-of-way next to bike racks, trash receptacles or flowerpots.
• Parked electric scooters must allow at least four feet of usable pedestrian walking space around them.
• In City-designated scooter parking areas (a map of designed parking areas can be found on the ScooterLNK website).

For maps and information on the ScooterLNK program, visit lincoln.ne.gov/scooter or contact Roberto Partida, LTU Transportation Planner, at [email protected].