FOLLOWUP: Scooter-share sightings in West Seattle

(WSB photo)

Thanks to commenter Flo for the tip – Lime‘s e-scooters have arrived in West Seattle. We’ve been watching Alki and The Junction for sightings since last Wednesday, when Lime became the first of three scooter-share companies to deploy theirs as part of Seattle’s “pilot” program. This morning we saw several on Alki, the ones above in front of Outer Space Seattle (WSB sponsor) and a couple more between there and Seacrest. Lime told WSB they plan to deploy “a handful” here for starters, with more in the weeks ahead. Also getting the city’s go-ahead are Wheels (seated scooters) and LINK. Each of the three companies will have permission for up to 500 scooters citywide for starters, eventually up to 2,000 each “if things go well,” according to SDOT‘s announcement, which has more details on how the program is supposed to work.

29 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: Scooter-share sightings in West Seattle"

  • Mj September 22, 2020 (1:17 pm)

    Fine, but as I understand the rules riders are required to wear a helmet and are not allowed on sidewalks.  Any wager on compliance to these rules?

    • sgs September 22, 2020 (2:14 pm)

      I’ll wager there won’t be.  Just saw two kids riding without helmets on the sidewalk.  Not looking too steady, by the way.

      • HelmetsUSA September 22, 2020 (6:19 pm)

        I see drivers every day not wearing helmets. 

        They are at risk of accidents and head injury too. And many don’t drive so well, at higher speeds, and way more distracted than those on bikes and scooters

        We should impose helmets on car drivers too.

    • Lawrence September 22, 2020 (8:11 pm)

      Example:Boise everyone rides them and enjoys.Helmets are seldom worn.People are free to do as please and the streets are more populated then Seattles now. Go Figure…

  • Brian Hughes September 22, 2020 (1:54 pm)

    Listen up!  These things are super fun and I plan on using them to go up and down California from Morgan to Admiral.  If you haven’t used one before, just give a little push kick while holding the button.  Lean back for big bumps.  And you should wear a helmet… even though most won’t.  Just be careful – they move along and scraped up hands and knees are no fun.

  • Vee September 22, 2020 (2:24 pm)

    Worst idea ever Accident-prone and lots of injuries  in places already allowed 

    • Wsguy123 September 22, 2020 (6:28 pm)

      Agreed. Also, no one to enforce laws as police are too busy with high priority calls and understaffed. And they may get defunded as I type this lol.

  • Graciano September 22, 2020 (2:40 pm)

    Yes be sure to wear a brain bucket

  • skeeter September 22, 2020 (2:45 pm)

    I saw my first Lime Scooter yesterday (9/21) and took it for a spin.  Fun times for sure!  Electric scooters are better than cars in so many ways.  Scooters don’t create traffic/congestion and scooters don’t pollute.  

    • Chemist September 22, 2020 (5:25 pm)

      How much did your scooter ride cost?  As far as I know, the servicing of scooters is often done by folks who drove vans and trucks with engines that usually burn gas.

      • hj September 22, 2020 (6:11 pm)

        Yes, and bicycles are commonly shipped to their point of sale by trucks that also burn gas. Walking is frequently done on sidewalks that are produced by machines that burn gas. I’m not sure where you are going with this.

      • skeeter September 23, 2020 (9:42 am)

        Chemist – fair point.  Scooters are most likely delivered and serviced by vehicles running by gasoline.  They are not perfect.  I’m convinced, though, that riding a bike or riding a scooter has a smaller carbon output than driving a Cadillac Escalade.  So I’m going to choose scooters and bikes when I can.  

  • Kaol September 22, 2020 (3:39 pm)

    As a person that walks the Alki Trail on an almost daily basis, between bicycles , skate boarders, skaters and now scooters, I’m thinking that it’s much safer to get in my car and drive to a safer place to walk.  I am constantly amazed at how inconsiderate most of these “riders” are! 

    • UseTheWalkLane September 23, 2020 (9:03 am)

      Uhh if you’re walking on Alki and dodging all those modes of transportation, maybe you’re not walking in the right lane @_@While riding my bike down there I see so many people in the bike lanes, walking super slow, side-by-side, being zombies on their phones and not paying attention. 

  • anonyme September 22, 2020 (4:39 pm)

    Kaol, you just identified the biggest problem with these.  They may be a good idea until you add stupid humans into the equation.  If they were ridden in areas where only scooters were allowed, that almost might work.  Combine them with every other form of transport and you’ve got a disaster, especially in a city where absolutely everyone is so, so, so special and entitled.

  • payattention September 22, 2020 (4:47 pm)

    Reality is that nobody will follow the rules on where they can ride. 99.9% will NOT wear helmets. They’ll ride and park wherever they feel like. City/SDOT/SPD/lime will do ZERO enforcement. Might add that between covid and flu bugs these will be petri dishes on wheels. 

    • Onion September 22, 2020 (9:52 pm)

      how are these scooters on hills? I can see using one to go from the water taxi dock up California or (gasp) Ferry.

      • skeeter September 23, 2020 (9:48 am)

        @Onion that’s a good question.  First of all, it seems like not all scooters are equal in terms of power and gearing.  So I encourage you to give them a try.  In my experience with Lime scooters, they can go up a slight hill okay.  On a moderate or steep hill they require some human “kick” assist.  I weigh 150lbs.  For a heavier rider I suspect the scooters will not do so well on steep hills.  Good luck and enjoy!

  • Auntie September 22, 2020 (6:02 pm)

    Great. Just great. In case it isn’t annoying enough to try to do anything at the Junction with all the traffic and no parking, now we have to dodge people on scooters. Guess I’ll just stay away from Admiral, Alaska and Morgan St. Junctions entirely. So sad after almost 50 years in West Seattle to have to avoid West Seattle. I’ll head on out to White Center. Oh, wait – they have scooters, too. Very sad to see the way the whole west side is going.

    • skeeter September 23, 2020 (9:45 am)

      @Auntie – you are so right!  These scooters are a mess.  If everyone would just refuse to ride scooters and drive an SUV instead then all our congestion, traffic, and parking problems would be solved.

  • Ws lifer September 22, 2020 (6:53 pm)

    Wonder how fun they will be when it’s 29 degrees outside and raining

  • 1994 September 22, 2020 (7:50 pm)

    I observed the scooters in downtown on Sunday. Plenty of scooters riding on the sidewalk at a high speed, some were using the bike lanes, none of the riders wearing helmets……They appear to be able to move quite fast for side walk use. They  are super quiet and can probably give people  a fright if they approach quickly and silently from behind a person. The scooters are equipped with a faint bell, that if someone were riding at full scooter speed, would not provide enough of a warning from behind a pedestrian. Scooter pedestrian collisions can be expected.  Scooter riders – be aware of pedestrians who may have hearing deficits or pedestrians with headphones on.

  • zipda September 22, 2020 (10:18 pm)

    Danger and death on small wheels under thin metal plate

  • T Rex September 23, 2020 (8:19 am)

    If I was a lawyer, I would clapping my hands for these scooter riders. Because the first one who plows into a pile of people, sustains a head injury due to no helmet, will be my first client to sue the living crap  out of the company and the ever so “Summer of Love” City of Seattle. 

  • shotinthefoot September 23, 2020 (10:20 am)

    on these crappy sidewalks? hahaha. wow. ok. that will be a no from me, dawg. 

  • Shadow September 23, 2020 (3:26 pm)

    I checked out the SDOT website linked in the WSB story which addresses some concerns in the comments (helmets, bells, speed). I also read the permitting requirements which provide even more details (park usage not allowed unless a multi use trail), vendor responsibility for scooters improperly parked, equity issues.  The funny thing is the requirements state that E-scooters cannot be parked in city parks but SDOT chose to use a photo of a scooter parked  in Kerry Park to illustrate and showcase the program. 

    • 1994 September 23, 2020 (10:40 pm)

      Ha! another SDOT gaff! They just never end do they.

  • WalkOnBy September 23, 2020 (9:54 pm)

    What exactly is wrong with walking?

    • HelmetsUSA September 25, 2020 (11:40 am)

      lol, nothing! Aside from it taking more time, and perhaps good walking shoes.

      What is wrong with scootering or biking?  Aside from some people’s imagined fears of scooters becoming some dystopian disaster for drivers and pedestrians.

      There are benefits, along with speeding up travel time, many find them to be enjoyable and of some exercise. I bet scooter riding requires some balancing that would engage and help strengthen core muscles. I bet both boost happy chemicals in the brain too, because they are FUN.

Sorry, comment time is over.