ATLANTA — A year and a half after it pulled its scooters out of the city, Lime has announced it is bringing them back to Atlanta’s streets.

Atlanta passed regulations to govern scooter rentals and use, but several companies, including Lime, Lyft and Gotcha, left in 2019 and early 2020, citing the city’s high impound fees and ban on operating the electric devices at night.

At the start of the city’s shutdown, Atlanta also deemed scooters nonessential businesses, clearing them from the city’s streets and sidewalks.

The city started letting the scooters back last July, naming four companies that had been contracted to bring scooters and e-bikes back to Atlanta’s streets.

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On Thursday, Lime said it had been approved for a permit to bring 1,500 scooters and 500 e-bikes back to the city of Atlanta.

“We are thrilled to be back in Atlanta and excited to invest in a long-term program that is tailored to meet the city’s ambitious transportation goals. We look forward to working with the city and with our community partners to ensure our shared electric vehicles help Atlanta continue to grow equitably and sustainably, create local jobs and spur economic activity as the city jumpstarts its post-pandemic economic recovery,” said CJ Shaw, General Manager at Lime.

Electric scooters, which can be rented by the minute using smartphone apps, first arrived in the city in 2018, instantly becoming a mainstay along sidewalks and popular pedestrian routes like the BeltLine.

“Lime will be proactive in conducting outreach to ensure users understand Atlanta’s riding and parking rules via community events and public meetings with organizations,” the company said in a news release.

Under the city’s rules, scooters users cannot ride on sidewalks and cannot rent devices from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this story.

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