The District Department of Transportation has greenlighted the addition of 735 new dockless bikes and scooters to streets around the nation's capital.
Jump, owned by Uber, was granted a request to add 300 dockless bikes to its fleet locally. More scooters could be made available through four of the city's six authorized rental companies.
Lyft, Skip and Spin can each add 120 scooters to their fleets and Lime can add 75, DDOT says.
Now, a total of 4,935 dockless vehicles are permitted in the District, DDOT says.
DDOT says they scored operators on compliance, data, equity and safety to evaluate the providers. One early mover into D.C.'s scooter market, Bird, was not listed on DDOT's list of approvals.
A dockless bike program was first piloted in September of 2017, followed by the introduction of dockless scooters the following spring.
Expanding the availability of these dockless options gets D.C. closer to its sustainable transportation goals, DDOT Director Jeff Marootian said in a statement.
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"With this approach, we are making progress toward Mayor Bowser’s sustainable transportation goals, while maintaining a focus on safety and equity for all Washingtonians," Marootian said.
Residents can be seen zipping around on dockless vehicles around town, but there have been safety concerns. Many pedestrians have complained that scooters are allowed on sidewalks outside downtown areas. Lime riders were cautioned of "sudden and excessive braking" when riding downhill.
Carlos Sanchez-Martin, 20, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was killed riding a scooter when he was hit by a car.
