Electric scooters are here to stay.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation officially announced new partnerships with Lyft and Lime that will bring up to 3,500 e-scooters — including scooters with seats and income-adjusted ridership discounts — to the city.
In the years since e-scooters first arrived in Portland, they’ve had highs and lows. The first company to offer them, Bird, filed for bankruptcy protection last year and is no longer licensed to operate scooters in Portland. Many of the devices have found watery graves at the bottom of the Willamette River. Despite these hiccups, the city is intent on solidifying the e-scooter’s place within Portland’s transportation environment.
Under these new partnerships with Lyft (the operator of BIKETOWN scooters) and Lime, every scooter is required to have a built-in locking mechanism riders will use to lock the device to a bike rack or street sign pole. The city hopes it will keep scooters from being left in the middle of sidewalks and other public areas.
