Orlando reports high ridership, no issues with e-scooters
Lime Scooters hit the streets in Downtown Orlando
Lime Scooters are growing in popularity since their launch in Downtown Orlando, but they are not ending up where they are supposed to, as a photograph recently surfaced showing one in Lake Eola. For the most part, the scooter roll-out has gone smoothly.
ORLANDO, FL - E-scooters have been on the streets of Downtown Orlando for a week now. Ridership numbers are through the roof and more scooters could be on the way.
“They’re fun,” said Alex Abrams, Orlando resident.
Lime e-scooters are the talk of Downtown Orlando after 200 of them were deployed, and people are riding in big numbers.
“I see them everywhere,” said Abrams.
The City of Orlando reports 10,133 trips in the first week, with 6,674 riders hopping on between January 21-28, 2020.
“Anytime there’s something new people are interested and trying things out, so we expected to see a pretty large surge in the beginning and we’ll see if it holds up,” said Billy Hattaway, Transportation Department Director, City of Orlando.
One thing already apparent: people have more interest in scooters than they did in the shared bikes.
In one week, the scooters almost hit the bike rider totals for an entire month. For comparison, in the first month of the Lime e-bike program, 14,867 trips were made and 4,959 riders rode.
“One, it’s useful because it helps you get around but it’s a little more entertaining,” said Daniel Hogan, Orlando resident.
The city says the launch has been smooth.
“We’ve had no reports of any issues or incidents, we’ve had some people complaining about parking, which is not surprising, we had the same issue we had with bicyclists,” said Hattaway.
He’s referring to the concern, the scooters would be littered around downtown. People we spoke to say, they haven’t seen that.
“I live in the area, I work in the area, I haven’t seen anything like that,” said Hogan.
“I haven’t seen them laying around everywhere, I think they’re pretty good at picking them up and keeping track of them,” said Abrams.
But a photo has been circulating social media of a Lime scooter floating in Lake Eola. Lime and the City tells FOX 35 News they haven’t confirmed this or fished any scooter from the lake.
Though the roll-out has been smooth, five more vendors have been approved to bring e-scooters to Orlando. That means up to 1,000 more scooters could soon hit the streets. The City, asking the public to be aware and be safe.
“We want all users to be careful, to respect others and look out for each other as they are traveling in and around the Downtown,” said Hattaway.
We could see those additional scooters in Downtown as soon as February.
Lime is happy with the response.
"We're thrilled with how quickly Orlando has taken to scooting. It's exciting to see so many riders eager to use cleaner, more efficient transportation options," said a Lime Spokesperson.