SEATTLE — For the first time, electric scooters are hitting the streets of Seattle Wednesday morning.
Lime is the first of three vendors to enter the market under a one-year scooter share program approved by the Seattle City Council earlier this month.
The company rolled out the city’s first e-scooter rentals from its warehouse in Ballard. As many as 1,500 scooters will initially be available once all three vendors have launched during the pilot program.
Lime said it is launching nearly 500 scooters across Seattle with scooters initially available from the Central District and SODO to Capitol Hill, Downtown, South Lake Union, Ballard, Fremont and the University District.
The scooters will be available in other parts of the city if Lime gets permission to expand.
Scooters cost $1 to unlock and $0.36 per minute to ride. As part of its launch, Lime said it will launch a training class in the coming weeks so people can learn to ride safely.
E-scooters have been launched in Bothell, Everett, Tacoma as well as White Center, which added them in August.
Helmets are required and riding on sidewalks is not allowed in most cases.
If successful, the year-long pilot program could become a permanent fixture in the area.