Electric scooters will begin rolling on the streets of Omaha Friday. A company called Lime is rolling out 200 scooters starting in Benson.
The city gave the company the go-ahead for a 6 month pilot project. Riders will use the Lime app to sign up and locate scooters across the city. Riders will be able to scan the bar code on the scooters handlebars using the app and away they go.
It costs $1 to unlock a scooter and 29-cents-a-minute after that. Riders can take to the streets anywhere the speed limit is 35 mph or slower. There will be some restricted areas including the Creighton and UNO campuses as well as the Old Market and the riverfront area.
Kris Alborz with Lime says although it's not legally required, Lime does recommend you wear a helmet and stay in the bike lanes as much as possible. “Think about these the way you would a bicycle. Wherever you want to ride a bike you want to ride a scooter and to follow the same regulations there."
Alborz says wherever people decide to drop off the scooters Lime will have a ground crew of about 11 people who will come pick them up. “We also enlist people in the city that we call juicers. They're people who pick up scooters for us, charge them and drop them off and we pay them per scooter."
The main areas for scooter use will be in Benson, Midtown Crossing, Aksarben and downtown. Benson will be the first area to see them on beginning Friday morning.
(Photo: 6 News)