E-scooters in Austin: Lime and Bird, the rules, downtown and where to park

Which e-scooters can you rent in Austin?

Electric scooter rental in Austin runs on six-month City licences under Chapter 14-9 of the City Code, and on its Director Rules, filed on 8 August 2025.

The City’s list of permitted companies (updated 1 October 2026) names two: Bird, allowed up to 3,000 stand-up scooters, and Lime, up to 3,700 stand-up scooters and 180 e-bikes. Its Shared Mobility page splits Lime’s 3,880 differently, as 3,205 scooters and 675 seated “gliders”. These are maximums, not what stands on the street. In May 2024 the City stopped licensing new companies, keeping two, and cut the citywide limit from 8,700 to 6,700 scooters, and the downtown limit from 4,500 to 2,250.

At 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday 28 October 2026 the Austin map showed about 5,800 scooters: roughly 3,300 Lime and 2,500 Bird, both as last counted, so some may have moved since. A snapshot, not the fleets. The map has no outline for Austin: its total is what the two companies’ Austin areas hold, and those also take in Sunset Valley and, for Lime, Rollingwood, small cities of their own where Austin’s City Code doesn’t apply.

For Bird the map shows each scooter’s position, charge and range; for Lime, position and charge. Scooters on a ride aren’t shown, and the map draws no zones in Austin: the apps have the final word. First ride? See how to rent an e-scooter.

Not everything is on the map. ScootRadar shows standing e-scooters only: Lime’s e-bikes aren’t on it, and its seated gliders may not be either. Nor is CapMetro Bikeshare (see below).

How much does a Lime or Bird scooter cost in Austin?

The City doesn’t publish the fares: “All service fees, including promotions, costs per minute, trip and unlock fees can be found in provider-specific applications,” its page says. Neither company publishes an Austin price we could check, so look in the app before you unlock.

The Director Rules ask each company for an affordable programme: riders with an income at or below 80% of Austin’s median household income pay no more than half the usual price. The City’s page names them Lime Access and Bird’s Community Pricing. The rules also ask them to offer rentals without a smartphone and cash payment: ask Lime (888-546-3345) or Bird (866-205-2442).

Bird’s US rental agreement (updated 30 August 2024) says riders must be at least 18. The City’s rules set no rental age; Lime’s app gives its own.

Austin scooter rules: sidewalks, helmets, speed and phones

Texas sets few rules. Chapter 551 of the Transportation Code lets a “motor-assisted scooter” use streets posted at 35 mph or less, bike paths and sidewalks, applies the bicycle rules to it, and lets cities ban it from streets and sidewalks. Austin didn’t ban sidewalks: in May 2019 the City Council rewrote Chapter 12-2 of the City Code, “Micro-Mobility Devices and Bicycles”, to allow them.

Breaking Chapter 12-2 is a Class C misdemeanour; the 2019 ordinance set the fine at up to $20 for a first conviction and $40 after.

Scooters in downtown Austin: Sixth Street, Rainey Street and Congress Avenue

In May 2024 the City cut the number of shared scooters allowed downtown (the Downtown Austin Project Coordination Zone) from 4,500 to 2,250, and gave the companies staging areas to bring them back to, its December 2024 memo says.

• Sixth Street and Rainey Street. Among the May 2024 changes the City listed a 10 mph top speed, down from 15, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. in the main entertainment districts. In December 2024 it said it was still collecting data on the Rainey Street and East Sixth Street slow zones. We found no later City source saying they still apply: the app shows any slow zone.
• Congress Avenue. In 2024 the City installed parking boxes along Congress Avenue and began working with the companies on “force park” technology, which limits ending a ride outside designated spots.

For Austin’s larger events, such as the ACL Festival, the companies usually ask the City for corralling space, the City said in 2024: check the app for where to park.

Parking a Lime or Bird scooter in Austin

The City’s page asks you to keep at least 3 feet of sidewalk clear, to park off bridges and away from creeks and rivers, and to stay off private property. The best places are its parking boxes (tape or stencilled outlines on the ground) and micromobility corrals (bike racks with markings for scooters and bikes).

The City Code (§ 12-2-15, as amended in 2019) bans parking a scooter:

• where it blocks people walking or traffic, or in a car parking space, unless marked for scooters;
• so that it blocks a transit stop, shelter or platform, or on or near railroad tracks;
• on an accessibility ramp, or anywhere it restricts people with disabilities;
• in loading or valet zones, or blocking a hydrant, a doorway or a driveway, or on private property without consent.

The companies may not place scooters within 30 feet of a bus stop or on curb corners, and must clear any left outside their areas by 6 a.m. To report a scooter in the way, call 3-1-1 or use its app.

Lady Bird Lake, Zilker Park and the Capitol

• The Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. The trail around Lady Bird Lake is City parkland, and the City’s parks rules (City Code §§ 8-1-31 and 8-1-32) govern motor vehicles on it. The Trail Conservancy, the nonprofit that works on the trail, puts it plainly: “Motorized vehicles, including electric scooters and one-wheeled skateboards, are not permitted”; e-bikes may ride under 10 mph. You may cross the lake on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge, the South 1st Street bridge and the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge.
• Zilker Park and other parks. The Director Rules bar the companies from letting customers ride in parks unless a separate agreement allows it, and the City’s page says scooters aren’t allowed in certain park areas and trails.
• The Capitol. The State Preservation Board, not the City, runs the grounds: “Motorized scooters, excluding Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) approved devices, will no longer be allowed to operate within the Capitol Grounds effective December 31, 2018.” The City’s Director Rules also keep the companies off State-owned land.

Scooters at UT Austin: the Pedestrian Friendly Zone

The University of Texas sets its own rules on campus. Since 24 August 2026 its Pedestrian Friendly Zone, from San Jacinto Boulevard to Guadalupe Street and from 21st to 24th Street, is walk-only for e-scooters and e-bikes: “Upon entering the zone, Lime and Bird electric scooters will power off, bringing the motor to a safe, gradual stop.” Locking is disabled there: walk it out before you end the ride. San Jacinto, Guadalupe and 21st Street stay open to scooters.

Elsewhere on campus, UT’s Parking and Transportation Services says scooters ride only where bicycles may, at up to 15 mph, or 5 mph in geofenced zones. Park only at bike racks or in the scooter areas on its Scooter Map; a badly parked scooter may be impounded, for a $75 fee, or $150 during University events, for blocking ADA access, doors, ramps or stairways, or on Speedway or the Main Mall. Access may be limited on football game days.

CapMetro, bike share and the airport

• CapMetro buses and trains. “Folding bikes/scooters may be brought on board if they don’t block the aisle”, CapMetro’s rider guide says. A shared scooter doesn’t fold: end the ride and park it before you board.
• CapMetro Bikeshare. CapMetro’s docked e-assist bikes are returning in phases after a suspension, fully by the end of 2026, it expects. A single trip costs $2.50 plus $0.25 a minute, a day pass $10 (unlimited 30-minute rides), and riders must be 18 (as of 28 October 2026).
• Austin-Bergstrom airport (AUS). Neither Lime’s nor Bird’s area reaches the terminal. CapMetro’s Route 20 runs to downtown in about 35 minutes, every 15 to 30 minutes, for $1.25, from the stop outside baggage claim on the lower level.

Elsewhere in Texas, see e-scooters in Dallas or San Antonio. Down the road, the San Marcos map shows Lime around Texas State University.

Did you know?

• Austin rode 5.7 million scooter trips in 2019, the peak year in the City’s open data, which ran from 2018 to 2022.
• Fewer scooters, busier ones. After the 2024 cuts, each Austin scooter made 1.37 trips a day from April to September, up from 1.04 a year earlier, the City reported.