Mayor Cassie Franklin pushes off her first ride Friday morning during a launch event for an e-scooter pilot program. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

Mayor Cassie Franklin pushes off her first ride Friday morning during a launch event for an e-scooter pilot program. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

My first Everett e-scooter ride: Not as daunting as I feared

A hundred rentable battery-powered scooters have begun dotting — and darting around — Everett streets.

EVERETT — Thrilling and just a little scary — my first ride on an electric scooter went smoother than I expected.

On Friday, one of the nation’s leading scooter-rental and bike-share companies, Lime, dropped 100 rentable battery-powered scooters on Everett streets for a three-month pilot. The city is the third in Washington to get the e-scooters.

I was an easy convert to the electric pedal-assist bikes rideshare companies have been rolling out. The extra oomph, when needed, makes conquering most hills effortless. They weren’t noisy and obtrusive like I had imagined.

The scooters are just as quiet. To get started requires kicking off with one foot. A throttle then controls speeds and a hand brake slows the ride. The first few moments were shaky, if not a bit jerky, but it was easy to keep my balance. Keeping a steady speed was difficult with the thumb throttle, but the brakes didn’t slip at all on the wet sidewalk.

Nervous with my first ride, I did stick to the sidewalk, though not allowed in the city.

All in all, it was an enjoyable way to get around, requiring no work on my part. For short rides, a scooter would be preferable to a bike. Though traveling farther than a mile it might get uncomfortable to stand for that long. And riding in the streets intimidated me, especially with cars entering and exiting parking spots.

E-scooters were beginning to be distributed in downtown Everett Friday morning. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

E-scooters were beginning to be distributed in downtown Everett Friday morning. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

Lime held a kick-off event downtown Friday morning. The constant rain didn’t deter Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin from taking her first ride. She and her deputy mayor, Nick Harper, pushed off along Wetmore Avenue as television cameras tracked their moves.

“It was super fun,” Franklin said after returning. “I was surprised how comfortable and stable I felt. You hop on and zip away.”

She can see herself riding the scooters between meetings at Everett Station, the Port of Everett and her City Hall office.

“It goes the appropriate speed,” Franklin said. “I felt very comfortable on the road.”

Mayor Cassie Franklin returns from her e-scooter inaugural ride Friday morning. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

Mayor Cassie Franklin returns from her e-scooter inaugural ride Friday morning. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

City code allows scooters to be ridden in bike lanes and on roads with speed limits of 25 mph or less. A helmet also is required.

The scooters have a top speed of 15 mph but will go faster down hills, said Isaac Gross, Lime’s general manager for Washington. They cost riders $1 to unlock and 25 cents each minute thereafter. An app is used to unlock the scooters, which don’t require a docking station. They are supposed to be left in the space between the curb and the sidewalk, where flower pots, light poles and bike racks are located.

Downtown resident Christina Strand also had her inaugural ride Friday.

“It was intuitive and handled corners really well,” Strand said. “It wasn’t scary at all.”

Everett is the third city in Washington to get the e-scooters. On Friday, the city launch a three-month pilot. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

Everett is the third city in Washington to get the e-scooters. On Friday, the city launch a three-month pilot. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald)

As I headed into the office, Lime crews were already distributing the scooters downtown, lining them up neatly for riders. And two riders zoomed by (though on the sidewalk and without a helmet).

Give them a try, it could open up a new ride for short trips. But do wear a helmet. After all, you will be mixing with traffic.

Got a question? Email me at streetsmarts@heraldnet.com or call 425-374-4165. Please include your name and city of residence. Took an e-scooter for the first time? I want to hear about your ride.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

City of Everett Engineer Tom Hood, left, and City of Everett Engineer and Project Manager Dan Enrico, right, talks about the current Edgewater Bridge demolition on Friday, May 9, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
How do you get rid of a bridge? Everett engineers can explain.

Workers began dismantling the old Edgewater Bridge on May 2. The process could take one to two months, city engineers said.

Smoke from the Bolt Creek fire silhouettes a mountain ridge and trees just outside of Index on Sept. 12, 2022. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County will host two wildfire-preparedness meetings in May

Meetings will allow community members to learn wildfire mitigation strategies and connect with a variety of local and state agencies.

Helion's 6th fusion prototype, Trenta, on display on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Helion celebrates smoother path to fusion energy site approval

Helion CEO applauds legislation signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson expected to streamline site selection process.

Vehicles travel along Mukilteo Speedway on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Mukilteo cameras go live to curb speeding on Speedway

Starting Friday, an automated traffic camera system will cover four blocks of Mukilteo Speedway. A 30-day warning period is in place.

Carli Brockman lets her daughter Carli, 2, help push her ballot into the ballot drop box on the Snohomish County Campus on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Here’s who filed for the primary election in Snohomish County

Positions with three or more candidates will go to voters Aug. 5 to determine final contenders for the Nov. 4 general election.

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Cal Brennan, 1, sits inside of a helicopter during the Paine Field Community Day on Saturday, May 17, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Children explore world of aviation at Everett airport

The second annual Paine Field Community Day gave children the chance to see helicopters, airplanes and fire engines up close.

A person walks past Laura Haddad’s “Cloud” sculpture before boarding a Link car on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in SeaTac, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Sound Transit seeks input on Everett bike, pedestrian improvements

The transit agency is looking for feedback about infrastructure improvements around new light rail stations.

A standard jet fuel, left, burns with extensive smoke output while a 50 percent SAF drop-in jet fuel, right, puts off less smoke during a demonstration of the difference in fuel emissions on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Sustainable aviation fuel center gets funding boost

A planned research and development center focused on sustainable aviation… Continue reading

Dani Mundell, the athletic director at Everett Public Schools, at Everett Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Everett Public Schools to launch girls flag football as varsity sport

The first season will take place in the 2025-26 school year during the winter.

A “SAVE WETLANDS” poster is visible under an seat during a public hearing about Critical Area Regulations Update on ordinance 24-097 on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County Council passes controversial critical habitat ordinance

People testified for nearly two hours, with most speaking in opposition to the new Critical Areas Regulation.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.