The City of Milwaukee has been paid more than $430,000 from revenue generated by the new dockless scooter program that the city rolled out earlier this year. At a Public Works Committee meeting on Wednesday, representatives from the Department of Public Works said that a total of 588,294 trips had been recorded on Lime and
The City of Milwaukee has been paid more than $430,000 from revenue generated by the new dockless scooter program that the city rolled out earlier this year.
At a Public Works Committee meeting on Wednesday, representatives from the Department of Public Works said that a total of 588,294 trips had been recorded on Lime and Spin scooters this year in Milwaukee, which is an average of 4,832 trips per day and is a nearly 40% increase from 2023.
Following three years of pilot studies, Milwaukee’s permanent scooter program began in mid-May. The program allows for two operators to deploy up to 1,000 scooters each in the city.
Under the new program, operators pay the city $100 for each scooter deployed, and 25 cents for each trip recorded. So far, the program has generated $436,486. That revenue will go into the city’s transportation fund and will be used for things like “scooter-related activities” and bike infrastructure, according to DPW senior transportation planner Zac Roder.
“Can’t argue with success,” said Ald. Bob Bauman. “Those are some big numbers."
[caption id="attachment_597006" align="alignleft" width="386"] Lime and Spin scooter ridership throughout Milwaukee. Map from City of Milwaukee[/caption]
Lime scooters accounted for 89% of this year’s rides, while Spin scooters only accounted for 11%, according to DPW data. These percentages track with nationwide data, Roder said.
While downtown and the East Side continue to have the highest concentration of riders, the greatest increase in rides occurred on the far north, west and south sides of the city, with those areas seeing a 142% increase between 2023 and 2024.
Given the high demand for the electric scooters, the city and its program partners could deploy more scooters, but DPW staff said adding more scooters without making streets and sidewalks "awash" in scooters is a "balancing act that we’re constantly discussing.”
Proper parking of scooters has also been improving. 92% of scooters were properly parked in August compared to 83% in June.
Lime announced in August that it had rolled out a plan to encourage proper parking, which included adding more than 80 new “parking corrals” this summer, bringing the city’s total to more than 200. Other things have contributed to improved parking, including clustered parking zones, virtual parking pins on scooter apps, a full-time Lime employee charged with patrolling the city and correcting improperly parked scooters, and a dedicated Lime staff member who evaluates “end of ride” photos.
