*Featured thumbnail image courtesy of Bolt Mobility on Instagram
Get ready to roam, Tampa, on two wheels. No, you won’t have to pedal. That’s because electric scooters are coming to downtown Tampa.
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City officials have reopened bids for vendors for the program. A detailed report on TampaBayInno.com notes that Uber is expanding across the country in both bikes and scooters.
Several e-Scooter companies submit new bids
The initial pilot program was expected to launch in January 2019, but city officials decided to reopen bids for the dockless e-scooter program. We’re okay with the city broadening in its search.
Currently, Bolt Mobility in Miami Beach, Frank Underwood Law in Tampa, Greenberg Traurig in Tampa, Roll Labs Inc. in New York, NY, RSA Consulting Group LLC in Brandon and VeoRideMobility in Chicago have all submitted applications, according to the report on TampaBayInno.com.
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Not allowed on the Tampa Riverwalk
The city is set to select up to three qualified vendors to provide scooter sharing services for select parts of the city of Tampa.
Don’t fret about congestion on the Riverwalk or dangerous riders on the Bayshore Boulevard. Those areas will specifically be off limits to electric scooters.
The two-wheeled electric rides will only be allowed on the sidewalk courtesy of a Florida Statute — and they can only reach speeds up to 8-10mph.
Program could launch in April 2019
The deadline for submissions is February 11 and the year-long pilot program should launch in early spring.
Once these scooters arrive it won’t be total chaos herding them. Each of the areas in and surrounding downtown Tampa will have parking areas for the scooters.
The program would include roughly 600 total electric scooters in the city of Tampa. Their addition would complement the already popular Coast Bikes.
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