Deaths revive debate on lakefront e-scooters
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Axios was able to spot at least five people riding by on privately owned electric scooters in the period of 10 minutes on the lakefront path last weekend even thought the Park District claims they are not allowed. Photos: Monica Eng/Axios
While Lime and Divvy scooters riders can freely travel busy Chicago streets, they're electronically barred from the relatively safe Lakefront Trail.
- People riding privately owned e-scooters, however, ride up and down the trail every day.
Why it matters: This summer, Mayor Brandon Johnson told Axios he didn't think it was fair that private e-scooters can operate along the trail while shared scooters can't, and that he'd consider a policy change.
- But recent tragic collisions between shared e-scooters and cars have pushed the question beyond an equity issue and into a safety issue.
Catch up quick: Back in 2023 and 2024, e-scooter company Lime lobbied the city to open up the Lakefront Trail to shared scooters. They cited data showing that 85% of those surveyed favored opening the trail to e-scooters. Some said it would help them get to work and events downtown.
- Despite openness to the change among lakefront alders including Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, the effort failed to gather steam.
What they're saying: "The difference between private and shared e-scooters is that we are able to geofence the shared-use scooters to keep them from being used on the lakefront trail," Park District officials told Axios.
- District officials say they exclude shared e-scooters from the trail "for clutter control and park protection from commercial vehicles needed to pick-up abandoned scooters."
- Lime officials say they can easily control the shared scooters to slow down in congested zones, controls not available on private scooters.
Zoom out: Chicago's shared e-scooter ridership ballooned to more than 6 million trips last year.
- But accidents in Chicago and across the nation have also ballooned.
- While the city stopped separately recording e-scooter accidents in recent years, local hospitals tell Axios they're seeing record numbers emergency room patients with severe injuries after using the vehicles.
- Illinois Secretary of State and mayoral candidate Alexi Giannoulias has pushed new regulations on scooters and other micromobility devices, but they don't kick in until Jan. 1, 2027.
What's next: A renewed push could be coming.
- LeAaron Foley of Lime tells Axios that company reps are in "active discussions" with stakeholders and "believe there's a way to do this successfully and responsibly, including with high-tech solutions to potential approaches like mandatory parking zones and slow speed zones."
Editor's note: This story was updated twice to reflect two new conflicting Park District' statements: one on Friday Aug. 7 saying it prohibits all e-scooters including private scooters on the Lakefront Trail, and then a new statement issued Monday saying district rules actually only prohibit shared e-scooters from the Lakefront Trail. .