Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration on Tuesday chose 10 companies to run a four-month, 2,500 electric scooter pilot and launched a quickie education plan to persuade Chicago residents and visitors to abide by the rules of the road.
Bird, Bolt, gruv, JUMP, Lime, Lyft, Sherpa, Spin, VeoRide and Wheels will each be granted 250 scooters to operate within a 50-square mile test area bounded by Halsted Street and the Chicago River on the east; Irving Park Road on the north; Harlem and the city limits on the west and the Chicago River on the south.
During the four-month test, users will be free to “access the scooters wherever it is legal to lock a bike in the public way,” according to City Hall.
The plan calls for scooter riders to “use a smartphone to unlock and ride the devices within the pilot area, though vendors will offer services for non-smartphone users and cash-based options,” according to the city.
Two priority areas have been identified within the pilot zone, where at least 25% of scooters must be placed every morning.
To minimize sidewalk clutter, scooters will need to be parked “upright; away from street corners, bus stops, and buildings; and with a minimum six-foot clearance on the sidewalk,” the city said.
Designated vendors will be required to “retrieve and move improperly parked electric shared scooters within two hours.”
As traffic congestion continues to increase in Rosemont, this would be another adventure for Rosemont visitors.
Rosemont should consider a scooter program and a Divy bike program for those visitors to their convention trade.
Shortly Harley Davidson will be opening in the Rosemont Parkway Bank Entertainment District, where visitors will be able to rent motorcycles.
The Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership and retail store will be the latest addition to Rosemont’s entertainment district.
Windy City Motorcycle Company, which owns and operates 14 locations in the suburbs and southern Wisconsin, is completing a two-story, 20,000-square-foot brick building at Parkway Bank Park.