By Pepper Fisher

SEQUIM – E-scooters may be coming to Sequim. The Bird scooter company is offering to set Sequim up with a rent-by-the-minute stand-up scooter service at no cost to the city.

Users would download the Bird app on their phones. The app tells you where the nearest electric scooter is and unlocks the scooter’s mechanism for a dollar. The rider simply squeezes one handle to go up to 15 mph, and squeezes the other handle to slow down and stop. Riders are charged 15 cents per minute, and when they’re done, can leave their scooter almost anywhere, though rules on that vary from city to city.

The City Council will discuss the proposal Monday night, which will include a presentation from a company representative, and a decision whether or not to enter into a temporary pilot program agreement is possible.

Cities around the country and the world have had scooters for years, some with better outcomes than others.

Upsides to the service include reduced traffic for short trips, which leads to fewer carbon emissions. Sequim could be the perfect place for scooters because they work best in places with a lot of dry weather, and Sequim is largely a very flat town, also a plus. In most cases, the company relies on local entrepreneurs to partner with them. Bird pays people to collect the scooters each day, recharge them overnight, and drop them off again at various locations.

Downsides have mostly involved bad behavior from users, such as cluttered sidewalks from inappropriate parking and rude driving around pedestrians or in traffic. Users are encouraged to wear helmets, but injuries are not uncommon.