Which scooter companies operate in Tampa?

Lime and Spin, under a City of Tampa contract that runs to 5 November 2028. Both rent e-scooters and e-bikes. Spin has belonged to Bird since September 2023, and its open data names Bird Rides, Inc. as operator.

Can you ride an e-scooter on the Tampa Riverwalk?

No. The City of Tampa says shared bikes and scooters may not be ridden on the Riverwalk, and Friends of the Riverwalk says scooters are not permitted there. Ride to it, end your ride in a corral and walk.

Where can you park a Lime or Spin scooter in Tampa?

In a designated corral, the City’s programme page says, and the apps show where. In April 2024 the City also counted public bike and scooter racks and charging stations as docks, and said parking anywhere else could cost a company fee of up to $5.

Do you need a licence to ride a scooter in Tampa?

Not under Florida law, which requires no driver’s licence for a scooter, and Spin’s terms ask for none, only that you are 18 or over. The City’s programme page still says riders need “a valid driver’s license or permit”, so carry yours if you have one.

Can you ride an e-scooter on the sidewalk in Tampa?

Florida lets cities permit, control or regulate scooters on sidewalks, with a 15 mph limit there. The City’s programme page doesn’t say what Tampa allows and points to its ordinance, Tampa Code § 25-173.1, so check the app and signs. Where there is a bike lane, Florida law says use it; on a sidewalk, yield to people walking and give an audible signal before you pass.

Are there e-scooters in St. Petersburg too?

Yes: at 6:44 am on 26 October 2026 the St. Petersburg map counted about 590 Lime scooters. It is a separate city across the bay, with its own rules. For another Florida city, see e-scooters in Gainesville.

E-scooters in Tampa: Lime and Spin, the rules, corral parking and where you can’t ride

E-scooters in Tampa come from two companies, Lime and Spin, under a City contract that runs to November 2028. Spin’s open data lists no prices, so check the app before you unlock. Florida law asks for no driver’s licence to ride a scooter, and Spin rents only to people aged 18 or over. End every ride in a designated corral, and never ride on the Tampa Riverwalk, Bayshore Boulevard or 7th Avenue in Ybor City.

Updated 26 October 20269 min read

Which e-scooter apps work in Tampa?

The City of Tampa’s Shared Micromobility Program has two companies, and both rent e-scooters and e-bikes:

Lime, in the Lime app.
Spin, in the Spin app. Spin has belonged to Bird since September 2023, Spin says, and its open data names Bird Rides, Inc. as operator and links the Bird app.

The City’s list of current contracts for October 2026 shows the programme under contract 25-P-00196, with two vendors, Neutron Holdings Inc. d/b/a Lime and Pheenix USH LLC, until 5 November 2028. Its programme page, last updated on 7 May 2025, names the two companies as Lime and Spin.

At 6:44 am on Monday 26 October 2026 the Tampa map counted about 1,720 e-scooters, some 1,400 Lime and 320 Spin: what the map showed at that moment, not the fleets. Every Spin scooter then stood inside Tampa’s city limits as the Census Bureau draws them.

The map shows standing e-scooters only. Both companies also rent e-bikes, and Spin’s open data listed 22 that morning: find them in the apps. Coast Bike Share is gone: HOPR, which ran it, says it has closed all its sites in Tampa.

Install an app and add a card before you set out; how to rent an e-scooter explains the rest.

How much does a Lime or Spin scooter cost in Tampa?

On 26 October 2026 Spin’s open data listed no Tampa prices, and the City’s page lists none for either company: the app shows the unlock fee and the rate per minute before you start.

When it made docks compulsory on 1 April 2024, the City said the companies would charge an “out-of-hub fee” of up to $5 for a scooter left outside an approved dock, and credit 50 cents to $2.50 to a rider who returned a misplaced one. Its programme page, updated in May 2025, doesn’t repeat these figures: check the app.

Spin Access offers cheaper rides to people on limited incomes, and a text-message unlock for those without a smartphone. Lime’s offers are in its app.

Tampa e-scooter rules: age, licence, helmets and speed

Florida law gives a scooter rider a cyclist’s rights and duties and lets cities add rules; the City runs the programme; the companies’ terms come on top.

Shared e-scooter rules in Tampa on 26 October 2026, and who sets them
Rule	What applies	Set by
Age	Spin rents only to people aged 18 or over; check Lime’s app. The City’s page says riders must be 16 or over. Florida sets no minimum age, but since 1 July 2025 has let cities set one	Spin (terms); City of Tampa; Fla. Stat. § 316.2128(7)
Licence	None in law: Florida requires no driver’s licence, registration or insurance for a scooter, and Spin’s terms ask for none. The City’s page still says riders need “a valid driver’s license or permit”, so carry yours if you have one	Florida: § 316.2128(2)–(3); Spin (terms); City of Tampa
Helmet	Required under 16. The City encourages one for everyone	Florida: § 316.2065(3)(d); City of Tampa
Speed	The City says shared scooters go up to about 15 mph	City of Tampa
On the street	Obey all traffic laws. Ride in the bike lane, or as close to the right-hand curb as practicable, no more than two abreast	City of Tampa; Florida: § 316.2065(5)–(6)
Sidewalks	Florida lets cities permit, control or regulate scooters on sidewalks by ordinance, with a 15 mph limit there. The City’s page doesn’t say what Tampa allows, so check the app and signs. On a sidewalk or crosswalk, yield to people walking and give an audible signal before passing	Florida: §§ 316.008(7)(a), 316.2128(1) and 316.2065(9)–(10); City of Tampa
Passengers	None: one rider per scooter	City of Tampa; Florida: § 316.2065(3)(a)
Lights	From sunset to sunrise, a white light in front and a red one behind	Florida: § 316.2065(7)
Alcohol and drugs	Never ride under the influence	City of Tampa
Hours	The City’s page sets none; the apps show any hours	City of Tampa; Lime and Spin
Fines	Breaking Florida’s bicycle rules is a noncriminal infraction with a $15 penalty. In April 2024 the City said a company could charge up to $5 for a scooter left outside a dock	Florida: §§ 316.2065(19) and 318.18(1)(b); City of Tampa (2024)

Scooters on the Tampa Riverwalk, Bayshore Boulevard and 7th Avenue

The City’s programme page, last updated on 7 May 2025, says shared bikes and scooters can be ridden all over Tampa, but not in three places:

The Tampa Riverwalk. Friends of the Riverwalk also says scooters are not permitted on it, though you can scoot to it.
Bayshore Boulevard. The City names the whole boulevard. Spin’s open data marks the path along its bay side, about 4 miles (6 km), as a no-ride zone.
7th Avenue in Ybor City. Spin’s open data marks it as no-ride from Nuccio Parkway to just past 21st Street.

In April 2024 the City also named Hyde Park Village and Armature Works as places not to ride; its programme page lists only the three above, so check the app there.

Gasparilla. In 2026 the City set a no-ride zone for shared e-scooters and e-bikes around both Gasparilla parades, the children’s on 24 January and Pirate Fest on 31 January. The 2027 parades are on 23 and 30 January: watch for the City’s notice.

Spin’s open data held 82 no-ride zones on 26 October 2026: some 60 small ones in and around downtown, others over both universities, MacDill Air Force Base and both airports. At street zoom the Tampa map draws Spin’s no-ride and no-parking zones, but no Lime zones: check Lime’s app before you set off.

Mind the streetcar tracks downtown and in Ybor City: the TECO Line Streetcar asks anyone with a bicycle or scooter to cross its tracks at a right angle, so the wheels don’t get stuck.

Parking a scooter in Tampa: corrals only

End every ride in a corral. The City’s programme page says shared bikes and scooters should be placed in designated corrals. In April 2024 the City counted marked and virtual corrals, public bike and scooter racks and charging stations as docks, and said a company could charge up to $5 for a scooter left elsewhere.

The apps show where you can and can’t park, the City said in 2024. Its programme page adds: park upright, never on private property, and keep at least four feet of sidewalk clear for people walking. Never block:

a sidewalk, a curb ramp or a fire hydrant;
a parking space, or an accessible ramp or parking spot;
a bench, a trash can or a parking meter;
the entrance to a business or a home.

Spin’s open data marks almost its whole area as no-parking, so park only where the app shows a corral. To report a fallen or badly parked scooter, call the customer service number on it, or email the City at micromobilityreport@tampagov.net with its location; in an emergency, call 911.

USF, the University of Tampa and MacDill

University of South Florida. Spin’s open data makes 98% of USF’s Tampa campus (on the Census Bureau’s map) no-ride, and at 6:46 am on 26 October 2026 the nearest Spin scooter stood 3.7 miles (5.9 km) away. USF’s safety page, read that day, says e-scooters “are not allowed in buildings on any USF campus” and should be secured outside at a bike rack or in a designated corral.
University of Tampa. UT points students to the City’s programme and says scooters “should be returned to a corral at the end of your ride”. Spin’s data makes 91% of the campus no-ride, yet at that hour it placed 83 Spin scooters within 500 m of it.
Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry campus is 87% no-ride in Spin’s data, and MacDill Air Force Base almost all of it.

HART buses, the streetcar and Tampa International Airport

HART’s rules, read on 26 October 2026, say not to use scooters “on buses or HART facilities”, and let one aboard if it can fold and “be kept out of the aisles”. A shared scooter doesn’t fold, so end your ride at a corral near the stop.

The TECO Line Streetcar runs 2.7 miles between downtown, the Channel District and Ybor City. Its rules, read the same day, say “Bikes are not allowed on board” and don’t mention scooters: end your ride before you board.

Tampa International Airport is three quarters no-ride in Spin’s open data (on the Census Bureau’s map), and at 6:46 am on 26 October 2026 the nearest Spin scooter stood under 300 m outside it. Don’t count on a scooter to catch a flight.

Did you know?

Hurricanes clear the streets. Florida law makes rental companies secure every scooter in an area under a tropical storm or hurricane warning from the National Weather Service.
Lime came back. Lime launched e-scooters in Tampa in 2019, Creative Loafing reported, and in November 2023 Bay News 9 reported that the City was ending its contracts with Lime and Bird. Lime is now one of the programme’s two vendors.
You can suggest a corral. The City’s programme page links a public feedback survey where you can say where you’d like new corrals.

Questions

Which scooter companies operate in Tampa?: Lime and Spin, under a City of Tampa contract that runs to 5 November 2028. Both rent e-scooters and e-bikes. Spin has belonged to Bird since September 2023, and its open data names Bird Rides, Inc. as operator.
Can you ride an e-scooter on the Tampa Riverwalk?: No. The City of Tampa says shared bikes and scooters may not be ridden on the Riverwalk, and Friends of the Riverwalk says scooters are not permitted there. Ride to it, end your ride in a corral and walk.
Where can you park a Lime or Spin scooter in Tampa?: In a designated corral, the City’s programme page says, and the apps show where. In April 2024 the City also counted public bike and scooter racks and charging stations as docks, and said parking anywhere else could cost a company fee of up to $5.
Do you need a licence to ride a scooter in Tampa?: Not under Florida law, which requires no driver’s licence for a scooter, and Spin’s terms ask for none, only that you are 18 or over. The City’s programme page still says riders need “a valid driver’s license or permit”, so carry yours if you have one.
Can you ride an e-scooter on the sidewalk in Tampa?: Florida lets cities permit, control or regulate scooters on sidewalks, with a 15 mph limit there. The City’s programme page doesn’t say what Tampa allows and points to its ordinance, Tampa Code § 25-173.1, so check the app and signs. Where there is a bike lane, Florida law says use it; on a sidewalk, yield to people walking and give an audible signal before you pass.
Are there e-scooters in St. Petersburg too?: Yes: at 6:44 am on 26 October 2026 the St. Petersburg map counted about 590 Lime scooters. It is a separate city across the bay, with its own rules. For another Florida city, see e-scooters in Gainesville.