MILWAUKEE — The City of Milwaukee has made more than $260,000 from electric scooters so far this year, with more than 379,000 rides recorded from September through June, the Milwaukee Business Journal reported.
Milwaukee has had electric scooters since 2019 when officials allowed them under pilot programs. Three companies were approved and brought their dockless scooters to the city: Lime, Spin, and Veo.
Since then, the city earned $262,000 but has also seen some complaints. According to the BizJournal, 89 complaints were filed in 2021 and 141 were filed in 2019. Nine more have been recorded since September 2022.
Now, Alderman Robert Bauman is suggesting raising scooter fees which currently sit at 25 cents and ride and $50 per scooter, per year. His request comes as concerns over underage riders grow.
“If we have to absorb the pain, we might as well get the gravy out of it,” he told the BizJournal.
The revenue from the scooters goes toward maintaining existing scooter parking spaces, and other Milwaukee operations.
Fees could change for the scooters in the future, but that's not the only change under consideration. Mike Amsden, Milwaukee Department of Public Works multi-modal transportation manager, said scooter and bike policies in the city will continue to evolve.
He said research is underway to find best practices for the scooters and city bikes, including prohibiting the use on sidewalks, in certain areas such as parks, and regulating parking.
“This is our first full summer of a pilot,” Amsden said. “The industry has changed and continues to change quite a bit, so we are engaging with five or six other cities right now.”
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