Lincoln takes tips on bringing scooters downtown from Omaha City council

Both Lincoln and Omaha city councils came together to talk of legislative updates and how to improve the capital city as a whole.

A hot subject was scooters and how they could make a big impact on Lincoln Pedestrian safety.

“I haven’t seen some of the problems in Omaha that I have seen with other cities so, it seems like Omaha has done a pretty good job regulating this so I hope to learn from Omaha’s experience,” said a local attending the meeting.

The Omaha council members said it is up to the bike vendor to keep the scooters charged. One full charge equals about 20 miles. Riders can be charged if they leave the scooter on in the wrong place like on the sidewalk or in a parking space.

“I do have some concerns about maintaining peoples safety, making sure that we are being mindful of pedestrian safety, mobility safety, and looking at what we can do to ensure that people who do use these scooters remain safe and that people who are not using the scooters remain safe,” said James Michael Bowers, Lincoln City councilman.

The question that remains unanswered is when the scooters will be available in Lincoln.

“We don’t have a timeline set on yet on when specifically these scooters will come, but we’re gonna get to work to make sure that we select the most appropriate companies that are gonna be good partners for our city,” added Bowers.

Stay tuned to Channel 8 to keep you updated on when and how the scooter program will be implemented in the capital city.