From White Center Now: Scooter program ready to roll


(Photo courtesy Lime)

8:06 PM: A year after first word that e-scooters would likely arrive in White Center before they showed up in the city, word came tonight that the North Highline pilot program starts Monday. Details are on our partner site White Center Now.

9:51 PM: Meantime, SDOT posted on its site tonight that it’s hoping the city’s pilot program will launch this fall. The post notes, “We also will require scooter share companies to pay special attention to West Seattle, South Park, Delridge, and Georgetown so that scooters can become part of the solution to the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge closure.”

29 Replies to "From <i>White Center Now</i>: Scooter program ready to roll"

  • 22blades August 15, 2020 (4:48 am)

    “become part of the solution to the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge closure.” THAT is a joke. Whoever is trying to sell this as a “last mile” solution is lining their pockets with lobbyist money. Scooters are not a transportation solution. They are a business model on life support.

  • anonyme August 15, 2020 (7:56 am)

    So now part of the SDOT solution to the bridge fiasco is to expect people to ride little scooters downtown?  In addition to the 500+ people whom they say will walk?   Not to mention the fact that we’ll now have more junk cluttering the sidewalks and obstructing pedestrian pathways.  And since these scooters are not street legal, I suppose they’ll just be jetting down the sidewalks on their commutes?  Who thinks this stuff up?  I can only assume that it’s the same group of 4th graders advising the City Council.

  • Brian August 15, 2020 (8:37 am)

    Boo. No. Get these pieces of garbage off of Seattle sidewalks.

  • Strange times August 15, 2020 (9:53 am)

    Dangerous for the riders and will just add a layer of traffic volatility that I don’t believe is a good idea right now.

  • chemist August 15, 2020 (10:19 am)

    Bikeshares are already required to pay special attention to West Seattle, but they don’t and it shows how SDOT has loopholes in the permit that go unaddressed.  There are equity deployment requirements in the current permit (10% in North Seattle, Rainier Valley, First Hill, Georgetown, Delridge, etc) but all areas all get lumped together as one statistic.  You end up with 500 bikes deployed but only 4 available in West Seattle South and East of the 35th and Oregon intersection.  Technically, 2 of those 4 appear on the S side of Roxbury and aren’t in West Seattle or the equity area.  The bikes can all be in First Hill or at a light rail station in Beacon Hill and SDOT says that meets the equity goal…. and even that low bar wasn’t met by Lime at all in 2019 according to Figure 12 of the annual evaluation.  The bikeshare permit needs revisited, especially if it’s the blueprint for the scooter permit.


  • wseaturtle August 15, 2020 (10:27 am)

    Councilmember Joe McDermott, will give residents a micromobility option that’s safe and socially distant”…There‘s nothing safe about  these scooters.

    • KM August 15, 2020 (9:07 pm)

      If you think these scooters are unsafe, wait until you hear about cars!

  • AT August 15, 2020 (10:33 am)

    What could possibly go wrong?

  • Ernie August 15, 2020 (10:45 am)

    Do they intend for these things to be ridden on the sidewalk?

    • Chemist August 15, 2020 (11:44 am)

      The King County one says not to ride on sidewalks “What not to do – No riding on sidewalks or in parks”.  The SDOT proposal intends to modify the exhisting prohibition on sidewalk riding to “Amend SMC 11.46.010: Allow motorized foot scooters to operate on bicycle lanes and public paths; sidewalk riding only allowed when sidewalk or crosswalks are part of connected bike network (e.g. movable bridges)”.

  • AB83 August 15, 2020 (11:15 am)

    Oh how I wish to see these take up space in the bike lanes 🤣

  • bolo August 15, 2020 (11:41 am)

    I’ve seen folks riding (non-rideshare) e-scooters around, mostly up S. Jackson St. in the ID, but not over the low bridge. To you folks: anybody using their e-scooters to get to/from West Seattle? Is it even feasible?

  • James Clark August 15, 2020 (12:06 pm)

    Make Joe use them on his way to work

  • Mj August 15, 2020 (1:35 pm)

    And who pays when a user fails to wear a helmet and gets a head injury?  

    • AMD August 15, 2020 (3:24 pm)

      Who pays when a driver doesn’t wear a seat belt and gets an injury?

      • ACG August 15, 2020 (11:00 pm)

        Usually (although not always) motor vehicle drivers have paid for auto insurance that may help with covering some expenses for injuries sustained in an accident. I do not know if scooter riders must purchase some type of scooter insurance before riding these or if some other form of insurance would cover them if they crash. Maybe an insurance agent can hop on and detail possible insurance options for scooter riders should they crash or cause injury to themselves or to another person/property. 

        • Zark00 August 16, 2020 (10:39 am)

          Most people do not have the medical coverage option in the auto insurance. Auto insurance doesnt cover any medical 90% of the time. That would be medical insurance covering medical bills. Emergency room visits are subsidized by taxes. Your medical insurance and taxes pay for auto accident injuries. Maybe another driver if its their fault.

  • Alki resident August 15, 2020 (2:35 pm)

    I’m sure those will work great on our smooth roads . Can’t wait to trip over on of these soon. 

  • jim August 15, 2020 (3:21 pm)

    Just waiting to see some fat drunk/high idiot riding one of these without a helmet running a red light or stop-sign.  As mj said who pays for their medical and lawsuit.

  • Alki Heights August 15, 2020 (3:31 pm)

    Ankle busters!

  • Mr J August 15, 2020 (4:55 pm)

    These are actually quite safe and fun. I had a blast on these in Denmark and Sweden last year. The difference being that the bike lanes are triple sized and protected and there’s ample bike parking everywhere. I love this idea but this stuff will always fall short unless we address our underline infrastructure problems which will only become worse with tax revenues down from the pandemic. 

    • KM August 15, 2020 (9:11 pm)

      Great points. The safety issue lies in how we allocate road space and fail to maintain our roads (which are heavily allocated for autos). I am not interested in scooters personally, but concern over their safety is a red herring.

  • Scoot your boot August 15, 2020 (6:48 pm)

    E scooters are quite fun to ride, and can be a part of the solution for people getting around. Some people seem to have rigid thinking, that every transportation option must work for all people to be useful. I disagree.

    A variety of options can help to serve more people in different ways.  Those who can ride a scooter might do that sometimes instead of riding the bus, which will allow more open seats on the bus for those who need to bus, etc.  

    Those who advocate for bicycles and scooters aren’t suggesting it as an option for everyone, but rather an option for some, which can help ease some car traffic and ridership on busses, and offer a variety of options for people to choose how to get around.

  • TM7302 August 15, 2020 (7:46 pm)

    More things to end up in the Puget Sound.

    • Scoot your boot August 16, 2020 (2:21 pm)

      Valid concern, and hope not.

      I would think that escooters and bikes would be better for the environment, over more carbon emitting vehicles.

      Hopefully overall environmental impacts are being looked at and management efforts will be implemented for mitigating them.

  • Joseph In West Seattle August 16, 2020 (8:59 am)

    Whoa!  I can’t believe what I just read about these scooters being part of the solution to the West Seattle Bridge closure!  Simply put, it’s a ridiculous “solution,”  for thousands commuting to down-town Seattle!   Someone writing another episode of the “Twilight Zone?”  Shaking my head in disbelief, here.

  • 1994 August 16, 2020 (2:45 pm)

    Just after all the ride share dumped bikes have been cleaned up, now we have scooter dumping to look forward to. At least the bikes were easier to spot to avoid tripping over them. 

    • Scoot your boot August 16, 2020 (3:58 pm)

      Since you are so concerned about bikes and scooters being dumped, I hope you are equally concerned about all the other trash people regularly litter, and speaking up about it.

  • anonyme August 17, 2020 (7:00 am)

    How inappropriate is it that SDOT is recommending toys rather than real transportation options?  What’s next – skateboards?  Roller skates?  I’m definitely in the anti-car camp, but this is ridiculous.

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