At the Monday, June 17 Missoula City Council meeting, there will be a public hearing concerning dockless electric bicycles and electric scooters, which have become wildly popular in larger cities.

At Wednesday’s Committee of the Whole, council members quizzed Jonathan Hopkins with Lime, USA about the possibility of allowing dockless electric bikes and scooters within the city limits and on trails.

Hopkins said in larger cities such and Portland or Boise, the use of scooters has cut down the use of cars dramatically.

“It reduced vehicle miles traveled by 200,000, because 34 percent of users said they would have been driving a car, or using Uber or Lyft if it hadn’t been for the scooter share,” said Hopkins. “However, the scooters are clean and 25 cents of electricity can provide 25 miles in mobility, and they don’t take up much space, just like a bicycle. That means that we have less pollution and we all think that’s a pretty good thing as well.”

One of the city council members asked about insurance in case of an accident.

“For people who have an accident, in many cases it’ll be their health insurance that covers it,” he said. “If somebody in a car is involved, and they are at fault, then their liability insurance would be invoked, so that’s how this is typically addressed.”

The public meeting will be part of the Monday night City Council meeting starting at 7:00 p.m. in the council chambers at 140 West Pine Street.

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