VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The resort city appears poised to get a taste of Lime, whether they are ready or not.
Thursday afternoon, Lime announced plans to distribute 500 e-scooters to the streets of Virginia Beach on Friday.
“We’re so excited to partner with the City of Virginia Beach, and we’re thrilled to be welcomed by such a supportive community,” said Laura Miller Brooks, Lime’s Government Relations Manager, in a release. “We look forward to building a longstanding partnership with the City and contributing to the continued success of Virginia Beach.”
The problem is, top city leadership had no idea about this agreement.
“You said what is happening now?” said Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer when reached by phone.
“I had not heard of that or any talk of that happening,” said Vice Mayor Jim Wood, who represents the Lynnhaven district.
Calls requesting comment from the City Manager’s office and the Virginia Beach Police Department have yet to be returned.
The news comes less than 48 hours after Virginia Beach City Council voted to change the law in an attempt to address scooter concerns at the Oceanfront.
Bird Scooters originally arrived in the resort city last year unannounced. After complaints from residents and business owners, city leadership recently praised the company for agreeing to cut off service from the boardwalk area.
Scooters are now permitted to travel in the lanes designated for HRT trolleys, a change Wood voted against.
“I just don’t think it is safe to have those scooters in the lanes with the trolleys,” Wood said.
Scooters are considered dockless and can often be seen parked along sidewalks in the resort area.
“Scooters, the riders, are responsible for a phenomenal number of crashes,” said Second Precinct Capt. Shannon Wichtendahl during a city council briefing Tuesday. “I can not give you the exact data because it is not a vehicle under the law … unless there is a vehicle involved, we cannot capture it.”
Within a 10 day timeframe, officers stopped an estimated 2,000 scooter riders during daytime hours for riding were they are not supposed to, Wichtendahl said. She said officers have begun to ticket when they can for non-compliance.
Lime’s release goes on to say that they have worked with the city on creating “proper zoning to ensure safe and proper usage.” Scooters will not be able to ride and park on the boardwalk.
“I believe that we do have to move to franchises and we have to have compliance,” City Manager Dave Hansen said on Tuesday.
Lime was the company Norfolk chose to partner with for a pilot program for the new transportation device.
Under their agreement, Lime is the only scooter operator allowed in Norfolk. They will pay a one time $15,000 permit fee to operate 500 of them in city limits, and 5 cents per scooter trip.
“That is my hope moving forward … to be able to limit the amount of scooters,” Wichtendahl said. “I don’t know how many I have out there.”
This story will be updated.