PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Bureau of Transportation on Thursday announced a new multiyear partnership with Lyft and Lime for e-scooters throughout the city. The two companies are expected to field up to 3,500 e-scooters between them.
According to PBOT, the deal comes with some new requirements for both the companies and for riders. First, Lime and Lyft must provide scooters with seats for people uncomfortable riding a conventional standing scooter. They must also offer discounts for people on low incomes, and must deploy scooters throughout the city each day so Portlanders don't have to go far to find one.
At the same time, riders are expected to secure their scooters with a built-in locking mechanism at the end of the ride, locking them to a bike rack, signpost or BIKETOWN station (in the case of scooters provided by the Lyft-operated Nike bikeshare program).
PBOT first piloted e-scooters back in 2018, and has dabbled with a few different providers since. While ridership took a major hit in 2020 as the pandemic hit, it quickly began to recover. According to data provided by PBOT, ridership in 2022 had just about matched that of 2019, and by 2023 it had surpassed any prior year.
“Portlanders have long embraced biking, walking and public transit, and since the end of the pandemic we have seen them embrace shared e-bikes and shared e-scooters at record levels,” said PBOT Director Millicent Williams. " ... The public-private partnership that PBOT staff created will make e-scooters more accessible to more Portlanders, while also showing cities across the nation that sustainable transportation can be good business."
The agency sent out a request for proposals on the permanent e-scooter program in June 2023, selecting Lyft and Lime as finalists in October. After negotiations that lasted through spring of this year, PBOT launched the new program this week.
PBOT is launching a public education campaign about the new lock-up rules for e-scooters, which are intended to reduce instances of scooters blocking sidewalks or ramps. Improperly parked scooters and other issues can be reported to the city online.
Discounts on e-scooter service can be found through the Lime Access and BIKETOWN's Community Pass programs.
