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West Allis committee adopts amended operating agreement with Lime e-scooters; fees, geofencing and parking rules updated
Summary
An administration committee approved an amended resolution with Lime that raises quarterly franchise fees, increases per-ride revenue to the city, and requires geofencing, parking-photo enforcement and an ID-scan feature; aldermen raised complaints about sidewalk parking and misuse.
The City of West Allis administration committee adopted an amended resolution renewing terms with Lime for dockless electric scooters, approving higher fees and new operational controls.
The agreement, approved by voice vote, raises the quarterly fee the city receives from $375 to $500 and increases the city share from $0.10 per ride in West Allis to $0.15 per ride. Committee members also discussed updated indemnification and insurance language provided by Lime's legal team and reviewed a draft that staff had highlighted with recent changes.
Committee members said the contract repeats the city's existing local restrictions on scooter operations, including a prohibition on streets with speed limits over 30 miles per hour and a requirement that operators hold an operating agreement with the city. A Lime representative said the company uses geofencing to keep scooters out of restricted zones and that its geofencing is generally accurate to about five feet, though accuracy can degrade where GPS signals are weak.
Lime told the committee it is piloting a parking-education tool called Capture that requires a rider to take a photo when ending a trip; real-time AI will notify users if a scooter is parked improperly. The company said it has a policy that a scooter cannot remain idle for more than 72 hours (the operator sets internal tasks at about 66 hours) and that logistics partners who relocate scooters must be LLCs with insurance; Lime said the previous “juicer” subcontractor model has ended.
The company confirmed a minimum rider age of 18 and said West Allis has ID-scan features enabled; Milwaukee declined to enable ID scanning, Lime said, citing equity concerns.
Aldermen voiced mixed reactions. One alderman said many constituents and some city employees dislike the scooters and described repeatedly finding multiple scooters left in a barn and others left in a concrete drainage ditch. Alderman Keane and other committee members said they had also received both positive and negative feedback: some downtown businesses and restaurant patrons view the scooters positively while others complain about nuisance parking.
The committee accepted the amended resolution and approved it by voice vote.
The resolution memorializes: the fee increase, geofencing and operational restrictions, a parking-photo enforcement requirement and the requirement that logistics providers be properly insured entities. The adopted text also incorporates the legal and indemnification revisions reviewed by city counsel.
