Lime green scooters can be seen drifting down the streets since transportation company, Lime, introduced their electric scooters to Starkville. (Photo by Briana Rucker, SDN)
Lime green scooters can be seen drifting down the streets since transportation company, Lime, introduced their electric scooters to Starkville.
The city of Starkville recently approved the placement of 25 Lime scooters in different areas.
Most scooters can be found in the Cotton District, downtown near Cadence Bank, and other areas.
No special license is required to ride, but participants must be at least 18 years old.
Each Lime-S scooter has a SIM card that enables the scooters to be tracked from the Lime mobile app.
Users should scan the attached QR code or manually enter the six-digit code underneath the displayed QR code.
"Downloading the app and filling out all the information was a little time consuming but overall riding the scooter was so fun and an easy way to pass time," Alex Schweppe, a senior public relations and communications major at Mississippi State University.
It costs $1 to unlock the scooter and $0.15 every minute after.
Lime-S electric scooters run on a splash proof battery that can withstand rain and snow.
Schweppe said that scooters become hard to find and most that are available have a dead battery.
Lime has a team of local employees who are responsible for responsible for pick-ups at night and drop-offs in the morning.
When the batteries are low, employees pick them up to charge the battery and return them to their locations.
On a full battery they can go a maximum of 20 miles.
Mayor Lynn Spruill thinks the scooters are a fun alternative to traditional transportation.
"My expectation is that we will see lots of activity on them," Spruill said.
Throughout the day, riders are often seen zooming on the green scooters at their maximum speed of 14.8 mph.
The Lime bikes debuted in 2018 after the city approved the bike share concept.
The smart pedal bikes are a nontraditional approach because they are operated by pricing, unlocking and locating through the mobile app.
Though the bikes were launched on the campus of Mississippi State University, the scooters are prohibited by the office of Parking and Transit.
Spruill believes that the bright side of the university's rule is that students come off campus into the downtown area to enjoy the scooters.
"People are benefiting to a certain extent by that," she said.
Spruill said the scooters are a means of transportation that's quicker to access.
"Lots of alternatives of transportation are a good thing for us," Spruill said.
For safety reasons city officials encourages riders to ride Lime-S electric scooters in bike lanes rather than sidewalks.
“I am pleased, hopefully everyone will have fun and be safe - hopefully it will be real positive for us," Spruill said.