Lime scooters are taking Tacoma by storm

TACOMA, Wash. — One week after Lime debuted electric bikes and scooters in the South Sound, the company said they have seen more than 5,000 rentals.

What you’ll see on the streets, for the most part, are people whizzing by on Lime scooters

“There’s just a ton of people that rip up and down, and they seem to be enjoying themselves,” said Trevor Colby, who has an office overlooking the waterfront in Tacoma’s Old Town neighborhood.

Josie Perez tried one for the first time today. “I thought it was pretty cool. It’s definitely fun for a little day out on the water. I could see it as a good little commuter too,” she said

Zhane Condly was with Perez when they spotted the scooter parked between two Lime bikes on Ruston way, so she downloaded the app and tried it out. Condly said she’s been seeing the scooters a lot since they got to town last week. “Yeah, all the time,” said Condly. “We live down on Broadway, so we see people driving them all the time. Especially at night time since they light up. It looks cool.”

Lime bikes have been in Seattle for more than a year, and the electric-assisted bicycles are popular, logging well over a million rides, according to Lime. But there are no scooters in the Emerald City yet. The official position from Seattle's Department of Transportation is, “Before considering a pilot for electric scooters, we'd want to study other cities' successes and evaluate public health and safety data,” the DOT said in a written statement to KIRO 7.

Lime's general manager for Washington, Isaac Gross, responded, “We believe Seattleites could benefit from expanded offerings to help them get where they need to go.”

While Seattle waits for scooters, Tacoma is on a roll.

Trevor Colby tried one out along the waterfront on a sunny fall Friday and says he can see why the scooters are even more popular than the bikes. “So far, I’ve been on it for about five minutes. It’s been great. I mean, they move out pretty quick. It’s a pretty easy process, so yeah. Not bad.”

Lime scooters are only available for rent to riders over 18 who hold a valid driver’s license.

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