Background
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) first piloted shared e-scooters for four months in 2018. During the pilot, users took around 700,000 trips on 2,000 e-scooters from multiple operators. Data on these rides showed how trips by e-scooter replaced driving and ride-hailing trips. It drew more people to active transportation as well, with scooter riders preferring to use low-speed streets and bike lanes.PBOT piloted e-scooters again in April 2019.
In Fall 2020, the Portland City Council directed PBOT to conduct additional outreach and start the transition from a pilot program that issued permits to shared e-scooter companies to a long-term program. PBOT extended the pilot through the pandemic until summer 2024 when the new permanent program launched. In that time, Portlanders and visitors rented e-scooters 5.8 million times. PBOT has used this wealth of data to assess whether e-scooters can help reduce congestion and air pollution, expand access for underserved Portlanders, and contribute to PBOT’s Vision Zero work to prevent traffic deaths and serious injuries.
PBOT’s hope is to make shared e-scooters and bike-share programs—known as “micromobility”—reliable, accessible, and sustainable options for transportation now and in the future.
From pilot to permanent program
PBOT searched for long-term operators for its new, permanent E-Scooter Program, issuing a request for proposal in June 2023 and selecting finalists Lime and Lyft in October 2023. Contract negotiations continued through spring 2024 and PBOT officially launched the new program in summer 2024.
Except for a new rule about locking your e-scooter (see below), e-scooter operations will be similar to the original two pilots. Be sure to visit our rules of the road page and make sure you know where you can and can’t ride e-scooters:
Rules of the road for e-scooters in Portland
NEW RULE: Lock your e-scooter!
The biggest change to using e-scooters will be a new rule requiring users to lock their e-scooter to a public bike rack or to a city signpost if no bike racks are available. Lyft e-scooters may also be locked to BIKETOWN bike-share stations.
Requiring users to lock their scooter after each ride helps keep our sidewalks clear and safe by removing tripping hazards from scooters parked incorrectly or knocked over.
Find the nearest public bike rack with the map below:
Expanded Area and Fleet
Under their new contracts, Lime and Lyft will provide approximately 3,500 e-scooters to rent citywide between them. Increasing their coverage citywide and with a larger fleet means more Portlanders will have access to rent e-scooters where they live, work, or play.
Report a problem
Notice an issue with an e-scooter, such as it being parked incorrectly or not locked-to a bike rack or damaged or not working correctly? Use our online e-scooter reporting form: