GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Electric scooters are back on the streets in Greensboro, after being taken away in November.

• Riders must be at least 18 years old, and can't ride scooters on sidewalks.
• They can only be operated on streets that don't go above 35 miles per hour, and can be used in bike lanes.
• Helmets are strongly encouraged, and when parked on sidewalks scooters must leave a six foot wide pathway for pedestrians.

A pilot program began Monday that will run until August 1. During that time, Bird and Lime will be able to operate scooters through Greensboro.

"We've heard quite a bit about folks wanting scooters back in the city, and so City Council definitely heard that. And so we implemented a program where by allowing them to come back, but we're putting in place requirements to ensure they're operated safely on the roadway," Chris Spencer said. He works for the City of Greensboro's Department of Transportation.

There are several new rules included in the scooter regulations.

Riders must be at least 18 years old, and can't ride scooters on sidewalks.

They can only be operated on streets that don't go above 35 miles per hour, and can be used in bike lanes.

Helmets are strongly encouraged, and when parked on sidewalks scooters must leave a six foot wide pathway for pedestrians.

Lime's Operations Manager for Greensboro thinks the use will continue to grow throughout the pilot program.

"In the next few months we're going to be deploying more scooters. We had 100 today, and pending decent ridership we'll go up to 200 by the end of the month," Charles Heugel said.

Bird is expected to bring their scooters back in March, and at the end of the program the city will decide how to move forward.

"We'll look at 'Do we need to make any adjustments to the program? Do we want to tweak the ordinance at all, or do we want to implement it as is and carry forward?'" Spencer said.