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Lime Scooters to debut in Spokane Valley on Saturday

Jake Schreiber, of Spokane, checks out one of 35 Lime scooters available for use in May of 2019, in Riverfront Park. Schreiber said his destination was the Cottage Cafe at 6902 E. Appleway in Spokane Valley. Starting on Saturday, Lime Scooters will be available for rent in Spokane Valley.  (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
By Rebecca White rebeccawh@spokesman.com(509) 459-5039

Lime scooters will be available in Spokane Valley starting Saturday, when 50 of them will be deployed across the community.

Lime Scooters have been available in Spokane since 2018, but haven’t been available in the smaller surrounding communities due to the technology’s conflicts with other cities’ codes. In the city of Spokane, there are around 1,500 scooters and over 50 e-bikes.

Lime could increase the number to 200 this spring, depending on the demand.

Last month, the Spokane Valley City Council adopted new rules for scooters and electric bikes, allowing them some access to trails, sidewalks and streets if riders follow certain safety and speed rules. The city of Spokane has a franchise agreement with Lime, but Spokane Valley has not signed an agreement with the company. In an email last month, city spokesman Jeff Kleingartner said the city has chosen to not restrict which bike or scooter companies are allowed to operate in the city.

Jonathan Hopkins, director of strategic development for Lime in Canada and the Northwest, said the number of scooters available would likely fluctuate throughout the winter, and there will likely be far more available in the spring .

“We’re not going to put a huge footprint out in Spokane Valley over the winter,” he said. “Demand will go up in the spring and the scooter fleet will go up accordingly.”

Scooters users are not allowed to block traffic or pedestrians, and scooters must be parked in a way that they don’t block use of sidewalks.

Scooters can be used on the Appleway Trail and the Centennial Trail in Spokane Valley as long as they don’t exceed 15 mph.

Starting Saturday, scooters will be available at Appleway Trail entrance at University Road; the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Sullivan Road; Sprague Avenue and South Pines Road; East Appleway Boulevard and South Dartmouth Road; and Sprague Avenue and South Custer Road.

On Saturday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Lime staff will give away up to 200 helmets in the Spokane Valley Mall parking lot. There will also be both Lime scooters and bikes available for community members to try. 

Hopkins said Lime could expand into other surrounding communities, such as Liberty Lake, if they also update their regulations to allow more use of electric scooters and bikes.

“If Liberty Lake had an interest in changing that code, we would be happy to bring scooters in the spring,” he said.

This story was updated on Oct. 23 to include a venue change for the Lime helmet giveaway.