Chicago’s City-Wide Scooter Program To Launch in May

After two years of pilot programs authorizing scooter usage on the public way, the City of Chicago’s citywide scooter program is set to launch in May of 2022.

BOMA/Chicago was engaged in discussions with the City about use of scooters in the Central Business District. During those discussions, we strongly advocated that scooters be required to dock at designated stations and that our members are given ample notice for any proposed docking stations so we can raise siting issues before installation. 

The recently announced citywide expansion of scooter operations contains two components: the authorization of 3 scooter sharing companies (Lime, Spin, and Superpedestrian) to obtain a license for citywide operation, and the expansion of the Divvy bikeshare program to include scooters to the system. The three companies licensed to operate scooters are currently allowed a maximum of 30 cumulative scooters in the CBD, with no scooters allowed downtown for the first 60 days of licensed operations.  For the purpose of scooter operations, the CBD is defined as the area between Roosevelt, Halsted, the Lake, Chicago Ave west of LaSalle, and Division St east of LaSalle.  

1,000 scooters will be launched via expansion of the Divvy program and will operate between Pershing, Ashland, North Avenues, and the Lake. These scooters will be able to dock at Divvy bike stations and Divvy will encourage the docking of scooters via pricing incentives at the conclusion of a scooter trip. BOMA/Chicago members that have an issue with an improperly parked Divvy scooter/bike can contact Divvy/Lyft operations by completed the form linked here. 

While not all scooter companies are required to dock, the vast majority of scooters – under the Divvy program – will already have docking stations available, and we do not expect new docking stations to be built. As the scooter program rolls out over the months ahead, we urge members to share your experiences with us about the new scooter program. We will continue to communicate member feedback with the City.

For additional information or to share feedback, please reach out to Rob Johnson, Director of Civic Engagement, at rjohnson@bomachicago.org.