Omaha will have a new mode of transportation beginning Friday. The Omaha City Council on Tuesday approved the use of electric scooters.
The scooters will be available to rent for people in downtown and midtown. The cost to rent one is $2 or $3 for a 10-minute ride.
A six-month pilot program will place up to 200 smartphone-rented scooters through November. Benson will get scooters first followed by Midtown Crossing and then downtown. They will not be available in the Old Market.
The scooters can be used between 5 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. and can only be ridden on the road and only on streets where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or lower.
Helmets are not required to ride the scooters but are recommended. Geofencing will limit where the scooters can go with GPS technology. For example, scooters won't be able to go over the pedestrian bridge.
Scooters can be ridden on the riverfront, Gene Leahy Mall or MECA parking lots but cannot be left there. Company representatives said they plan to educate renters on proper parking so the scooters do not become a nuisance.