SPOKANE, Wash — With the weather heating up and coronavirus restrictions slowly being lifted, more people are headed downtown.
But unlike the summer of 2019, when Lime scooters became a popular way to get around the city, the summer of 2020 will, for at least a little while, be scooter-less.
The scooters were put into storage over the winter, and initially supposed to hit the streets again in the spring. But then, the coronavirus pandemic hit, and Lime's return was delayed.
But the company says the scooters have already returned to other cities, such as Portland and Boise, and that they've been operating safely there.
"Scooters and bike-share have been operating throughout the pandemic globally, and nobody has traced transmissions to scooters and bike-share," said Jonathan Hopkins, a director for Lime.
Hopkins says personal scooters can actually be considered one of the safer forms of transportation, since they're outdoors where it's much harder for the virus to spread.
"What we have seen from other cities is this has been a very very successful and safe alternative to getting people around. Open air, single rider, socially distanced. All the things that people want," he said.
Some cities, according to Hopkins, have even considered scooters essential transportation. And in fact, under Washington's current guidelines, there is room for that interpretation.
No specific order or guideline directly addresses these scooters, however, and they aren't tied to any specific phase of reopening.
So, the decision on when Lime will come back to Spokane will likely be up to the city and the health district. Right now, concerns about the same surface being touched repeatedly have prevented that return.
"The initial presentation I was not really enthusiastic about," said health officer Dr. Bob Lutz in a press conference on Wednesday. "But to the credit of the city and the credit of the company, they're looking at doing some things differently, and so again I think there's active conversations about the possibility of that at some point in the future."
Some of those new measures include cleaning the scooters every time they're picked up by the company, though that doesn't necessarily mean after each use.
Lime contends that realistically, as long as people wash their hands, scooters and bikes don't pose much risk.
"As epidemiologists told us... the virus is not going to jump off the handlebars and jump into your nose," said Hopkins.
Evidently, local leaders aren't completely convinced yet, and it will likely be at least a few weeks before they provide any sort of timeline on when Lime may come back.
But once given the go-ahead, Hopkins says Lime can be up in running again in a matter of a few days.
"We're ready to go," he said. "I think city staff is working on it, and hopefully we'll see some progress very soon."