Electric scooters are officially coming back to Chicago this spring.
The city announced Thursday that three scooter operators have been chosen to participate in Chicago's first non-pilot scooter rollout. The fully fledged program will include e-scooters from Lime, Spin and Superpedestrian. In addition, Divvy, which is operated by Lyft, will also launch scooters in Chicago.
Around 4,000 scooters will be available in Chicago starting in early May, the city said, including 3,000 from Lime, Spin and Superpedestrian and another 1,000 from Divvy.
All companies are permitted to operate in Chicago for two years. Previously, the city tested electric scooters on city streets during two pilot programs starting in 2019.
Chicago is implementing the shared scooters with the goal of eliminating clutter and sidewalk congestion that have plagued other cities and generated complaints in early pilot runs. All scooters in Chicago will come with cable-locking technology that allows them to connect to a structure when not in use. In addition, the scooters will all have "sidewalk-riding detection" technology to prevent people from riding scooters on city sidewalks.
Scooters will not be allowed on the Lakefront Trail, the 606, Riverwalk or at Navy Pier.
Divvy's scooters will be mainly downtown, with its docked devices available to park at 230 stations in and near the city center. Scooters from Lime, Spin and Superpedestrian will be deployed citywide, with 50% of those scooters located in south and west side neighborhoods, the city said.
A total of six companies applied to take part in Chicago's scooter program. Companies that weren't selected include Bird, Helbiz and Chicago-based Veo.
Lime, Spin and Superpedestrian will set their own prices. They must provide a low-income option, the city said, and offer cash-based payment options. Divvy scooters will be available under its existing bike-share membership program.
