Bolt electric scooters, as seen outside Clarendon Metro station in Arlington.

BeyondDC / Flickr

There’s one more option for D.C.’s devoted scooter fans.

On Tuesday, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced that they had granted a mid-year permit to Bolt Mobility (the mobility company co-founded by Olympian Usain Bolt) to operate dockless scooters. Until December 31, 2019, the company is permitted to operate 600 electric scooters across the city. They can then increase their fleet by up to 25 percent each quarter.

The scooters are apparently already here:

It’s worth noting the unusual design of the Bolt scooters, which have a piece of plastic in the center that prevents people from keeping their feet close together. The company has said that this design creates a “lower center of gravity for safer, more comfortable rides.” (But that doesn’t mean everyone likes it.)

A press release from DDOT stated that the agency has issued eight permits this year to dockless vehicles (including permits for both scooters and bicycles). And in total, there are 4,815 dockless vehicles operating in the city. Currently, Bird, Jump, Lime, Lyft, Skip, Spin, and now Bolt operate electric scooters, while only Jump operates dockless bicycles.

The dockless scooter and bike permits are part of Mayor Bowser’s long term plan “to provide accessible transportation options across all eight wards,” DDOT Director Jeff Marootian said in a press release Tuesday. In that spirit, the agency reopened the permit application for dockless vehicles on May 31 of this year. “Reopening the permit application allows us to expand the field of operators and reward the most innovative, safe and efficient providers of dockless bikes and scooters,” Marootian said.

In addition to Bolt’s scooter initiative, the agency has granted conditional approval “pending receipt of permit fees” to Bolt’s electric bicycles, bikes and scooters from Hopr, and electric scooters from Razor.

The department is planning to open 2020 applications for their dockless vehicle program sometime in the Fall of this year. The total number of dockless vehicles could potentially reach up to 16,800 next year.

Earlier this year, Bolt scooters arrived in Arlington.

So, scooter fans, get excited—you now have more options than ever. (Even if your scooter isn’t allowed to go as fast as Usain Bolt can run.)

Filed Under: Bolt, ddot, electric scooters,