Rental scooters and bikes will be back on the streets soon

Shared rental bikes and scooters will be returning to Minneapolis streets soon, with some new rules to enhance accessibility and equity.

The city announced Monday that it signed a new contract with vendors to provide scooters and Nice Ride shared rental bikes. They should be available by mid-month.

Lyft, Lime and Spin will provide scooters, with Lyft also handling the rental bikes, both traditional pedal and electric-assist.

The city is requiring all three vendors to distribute at least 30% of their scooters in Equity Distribution Areas in north and south Minneapolis. A maximum of 40% of each operator's scooters are allowed downtown and in the surrounding neighborhoods.

All operators are required to have low-income pricing programs, and the operators will have incentives to provide more parking infrastructure, such as bike racks, docking stations and on-street parking corrals.

Operators are also required to provide ongoing education and outreach on safe riding and proper parking behavior. State law regulates how motorized foot scooters can be operated, and riders must follow traffic laws.

Scooters cannot be used on sidewalks. They must be parked upright using the kickstand and locked to a municipal signpost or public bike rack outside of the pedestrian path of travel.

The vendors also are required to participate in the city's mobility hub program, which will create more than 30 locations where residents can connect to a variety of different transportation methods.