Ability Now Tests Lime’s New Disability Accessible Scooter

Lime Micromobility, the company that brings the Bay Area “on the spot” bike and scooter rentals, brought their first scooter designed for individuals with disabilities to Ability Now for our participants and staff to test. The scooter has an adjustable seat and wider handle bars for easier maneuverability. Although our participants that use wheelchairs were not able to test this particular scooter, there is talk that other designs are in the works.

Our participants that are “able-bodied” but still had balance issues were the first to try out the scooter. With a little bit of time and effort, they were able to ride the scooters like a pro. Ability Now staff also tried out the scooters, laughing the whole time, even when wiping out from going too fast and turning too hard.

Oakland and San Francisco accessibility pilot programs are part of a push to make scooters available to some who felt shut out when the vehicles first came out. Lime rolled out the model after it held a roundtable with community advocacy organizations, which included Ability Now, and won approval from city officials.

Everyone here at Ability Now had a blast trying out Lime’s new scooter, and we are looking forward to testing more adaptable scooters as they work on them.