A quick guide to electric scooters, bikes, and mopeds in D.C.

D.C. was an early adopter of shared electric scooters and bikes, having rolled out a pilot program for so-called &#;dockless&#; vehicles in September . Since then, they have only expanded in use and visibility throughout the city&#;s core area and beyond. Around 6,000 dockless vehicles are currently permitted in the District, including, as of August, mopeds.

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With their arrival have come questions, comments, and concerns, from both residents and visitors. Consider this your guide to life on two wheels in the District: from key information on the rentable devices and the rules for them to how fast they go and who&#;s providing them.

How do I rent a scooter&#;or bike or moped?

Whatever the brand, the way to access these dockless vehicles is by downloading your app of choice and making sure your &#;s geolocation tracking is on. Practically all of the brands require you to provide a debit or credit card so you&#;re able to be charged for any rides taken.

How much do they cost?

Prices vary by provider and type of vehicle, but generally speaking it costs $1 to unlock an electric scooter or bike and between 24 to 39 cents per minute to use them. Depending on how long you ride, the vehicles can cost roughly the same or more than a Metro trip (from $2.25 to $6 a trip during peak times, based on distance). Typically, this cost is significantly less than the cost of ride-hailing across a similar distance, especially for single-person rides.

Are they more convenient than public transit?

It depends. If you&#;re traveling only a mile or two, it can be quicker to hop on a nearby electric bike or scooter than to wait for a Metro train or bus, particularly given Metro&#;s unreliable off-peak service, plus D.C.&#;s notorious gridlock. Beyond that distance, it&#;s probably better to take public transit. And remember: You can always take a shared bike or scooter to or from Metro.

Where can I find scooters, electric bikes, and mopeds?

By regulation, D.C. requires that micromobility companies deploy their vehicles in all eight wards of the city. Still, they tend to be clustered in the densest parts of the District, such as downtown, the 14th and U street NW corridors, and Navy Yard; access east of the Anacostia River has been limited. Some of the companies are present in nearby Virginia and Maryland.

Where can I ride them?

Mopeds provided by D.C.&#;s only shared moped operator currently, Revel, may be ridden on roads, but not sidewalks, major bridges, or highways. In the city&#;s Central Business District, which covers downtown and the U.S. Capitol grounds, it&#;s illegal to ride bikes and scooters on the sidewalk. (The penalty is a $25 fine, but this is hard to enforce.) Otherwise, you may ride electric bikes and scooters on sidewalks outside of the Central Business District as well as on roads and bike lanes. If you choose to travel on the sidewalk, you should yield to pedestrians.

Where can I park these vehicles?

You can park electric scooters essentially anywhere on the sidewalk, provided that there&#;s a 5-foot &#;clear zone&#; for pedestrians, and at bike racks. City rules say the scooters should not impede access to private property or driveways, bus stops and shelters, or travel lanes, and they should be parked upright. Electric bikes must be attached to posts such as street poles or trees. Revel mopeds have to be parked in legal parking spaces perpendicular to the curb.

How fast do they go?

Scooters are restricted to 10 mph and electric bikes to 20 mph. Revel mopeds can travel up to 30 mph. Be mindful of drivers when merging with traffic, turning, and crossing intersections.

For more information, please visit white electric scooter.

Are the scooters (and mopeds) safe?

The vehicles are relatively safe when used responsibly. But a few crashes, including a fatal one in which a driver killed a scooter rider last year, have raised concerns, as have national media reports about scooter-related hospitalizations. Helmets are required for moped trips.

Can you get fined for using these devices in certain ways?

Right now, other than the sidewalk-riding restriction in the Central Business District, the city lacks stringent penalties for allegedly misusing electric scooters and bikes. That could change with pending legislation from local lawmakers, but any changes are still months away at best.

What are my options?

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) currently allows nine companies to offer dockless vehicles in the city. Those firms and their number of permitted vehicles are: Bird (600 electric scooters), Bolt (600 electric scooters), Jump (975 electric scooters and bikes), Lime (600 electric scooters), Lyft (720 electric scooters), Razor (600 electric scooters), Skip (720 electric scooters), Spin (720 electric scooters), and Revel (400 electric mopeds). A few operators originally provided standard bikes when the city&#;s pilot program began, but some bowed out of D.C., while others shifted to electric scooters several months into the program.

Micromobility companies can grow their fleet sizes each quarter if they meet performance requirements from DDOT, which means the city could host even more dockless vehicles in the future. Shared mopeds fall into a different pilot program, set to last until the end of .

Do any have baskets for carrying my belongings?

Yes. Jump&#;s electric bikes and some of Razor&#;s scooters are equipped with sizable baskets for when you need to haul your stuff across town. In addition, Revel&#;s mopeds have small trunks.

Wait, what happened to Capital Bikeshare?

It&#;s still around. Capital Bikeshare is managed separately from the District&#;s dockless vehicle program and now boasts over 4,300 bikes across more than 500 stations. A study from last year showed that its ridership was not significantly impacted by the introduction of electric bikes and scooters, although more Capital Bikeshare bikes went missing. For a few months, the service had electric bikes, but it pulled them off the streets after reports of brake issues.

Anything else I should know?

Two years after dockless vehicles were first introduced to the District, they are poised to continue growing, barring any unforeseen market changes. In the meantime, ride safely.

This post has been updated to clarify Revel&#;s rules for parking and the latest rental prices.

Electric scooters, also known as e-scooters, have handlebars and a floorboard or seat and may be powered by electric and/or human power. The citywide speed limit for e-scooters is 15 MPH. New Yorkers must be 16 years or older to ride a privately owned e-scooter. To use a shared e-scooter, New Yorkers must be 18 or older. 

For differences between e-mobility devices, please see this chart (PDF). 

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