In the latest move to increase scooter prices in the District, Lyft has jacked its cost up to $0.24 per minute, compared to its previous cost of $0.15. (In addition to a $1 unlocking fee.)
Lyft is raising its scooter prices from 15 cents a minute to 24 cents a minute. They blame DDOT's vehicle fleet cap.
What's your price ceiling for scooters where you'll stop using them? I know a lot of people said they gave up JUMP bikes after the price increase to 25 cents/min pic.twitter.com/aMvTCR0dKp
— Jordan Pascale (@JWPascale) August 22, 2019
In an email sent to customers, Lyft says it’s raising prices “to match [its] competitors, improve scooter availability, and keep operations smooth.” The company also says it’s “because [it is] not allowed to increase the size of our fleet to meet the demand for Lyft scooters.”
Indeed, the D.C. Department of Transportation has a limit on the number of dockless vehicles that companies can operate under their permit—each permit allows for 600 dockless vehicles, with the opportunity to increase its fleet by 25 percent every quarter. As of July, there are almost 5,000 dockless vehicles operating in the city.
So what does this mean for devoted scooter riders in D.C.? It means that some scooters are getting more expensive. In fact, Jump raised its prices just two months ago from $0.15 per minute to $0.25 per minute, both without an unlocking fee. Now that Lyft has also raised its prices, Spin is the only company providing rides under $0.20 a minute.
Here’s how all seven companies currently operating in the District compare. It’s strangely very difficult to find the cost of riding a scooter without actually going and scanning the QR code on your phone.
| Scooter brand | Unlocking fee | Cost per minute* | Total for a 10-minute ride |
| Bird | $1 | $0.29 | $3.90 |
| Bolt | none | $0.30 | $3 |
| Jump | none | $0.25 | $2.50 |
| Lime | $1 | $0.24 | $3.40 |
| Lyft | $1 | $0.24 | $3.40 |
| Skip | $1 | $0.25 | $3.50 |
| Spin | $1 | $0.15 | $2.50 |
*some companies calculate sales tax within the cost per minute, while others don’t (and they often don’t disclose it clearly at the outset)
Meanwhile, Razor e-scooters are expected to arrive in D.C. sometime next week, according to an email from the company. As for the price of renting one, a Razor spokesperson tells DCist “that will be determined later.”
