TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa residents and visitors have a new transportation option to scoot along streets of downtown Tampa.
Electric scooters now are available in downtown Tampa to rent on the go.
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Shea Carson got his first taste of using an e-scooter on a trip to Nashville.
"[I] spent the whole day riding up and down the hills having a great time," he said.
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He had been waiting for them to come to Tampa. Finally on Memorial Day Weekend, the scooters appeared all over downtown Tampa.
"You get to be not only around in the city, but feel the city. You don't get to experience and feel as much when you are riding by in your car. It's nice having everything out. We live in Tampa. Why not be outside, right?"
So far Bird and Spin are the first two companies to put e-scooters on Tampa streets But, city officials say there are more companies to come.
You can rent an e-scooter by using an app and paying for it with a credit card.
It costs one dollar to unlock the scooter and between 15 cents and 20 cents a mile per ride.
Some restrictions for when and where you can ride the scooters include:
- Motorized scooter vehicles shall not be ridden on the sidewalk on 7th Avenue
- Motorized scooter vehicles shall not be ridden on the sidewalk on Bayshore Boulevard
- Motorized scooter vehicles shall not be ridden on Tampa Riverwalk
- Users shall dismount when riding motorized scooter vehicles through crowded sidewalks filled with pedestrians
Dozens of cities around the world already have e-scooter rentals available.
E-scooters are not yet available in downtown St. Petersburg, but could be in the future.
