Spin, coming to UCF, is one of the many companies who can now offer their scooters in Orlando
The Orlando City Council unanimously gave final approval for electric scooters Monday after deliberating safety and speed guidelines for months.
Even as the city entered the pilot program last month, it expressed concerns, sweating the 15 or so companies eager to slang their scooters in the 'Do. Ultimately, though, electric scooters received the green light.
SoDo, DoDo, DisDo, UCFDo, tho – all the 'Dos. There's so much scootin' potential for companies like Spin, which is bringing scooters to UCF, Lime, and Orlando-based HOPR. The city is limiting the number of scooters each company can have to 1,800, and requiring fleets of scooters to stay between 200 and 400. The fastest a scooter can go is 10 mph. Companies also have to host safety classes and carry liability insurance.
Both Lime and HOPR have already made an imprint with their bikes for rent in town. The city said there were more than 30,000 bike-share rides a month by people who would otherwise use a car, decreasing driving trips in the city by tens of thousands monthly.
Lime bikes, though – which had baskets many people used to fill with important things like groceries – will be yanked in favor of scooters, announced the company. Ya can't balance a basket full of produce on a scooter, which sucks for the many people who found Lime bikes an important supplement to Orlando's abysmal public transit options.
You can look really sexy zipping around town on a scooter, though. Cities all over America have fallen for things, no matter how much people fall off or hurt themselves while riding. Orlando will soon join the list of U.S. metros that can count on roving groups of scooters made up of tourists, people on tours, people going out, and individuals like the rider who didn't want to walk the last half mile and the rider who missed the bus.
Electric scooters are expected to arrive early next year.
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