Electric scooters on Chicago streets at 3 a.m.? The City Council will consider it.

CHICAGO - Members of a City Council committee on Wednesday endorsed an ordinance that would allow the use of electric scooters in the wee hours of the night.

The amended ordinance advanced by the Committee on License and Consumer Protection to the full City Council would allow riders to use the scooters between midnight and 5 a.m. — which company officials hope will offer more commuting options for those working overnight hours.

Currently, electric scooters can be rented from sharing services only from 5 a.m. to midnight. Officials with Lime and Spin, the only companies operating in Chicago outside downtown, expect this time change to increase ridership. The ordinance, however, does not require any increase in the number of devices the firms make available to rent.

While Lime and Spin are the only e-scooter companies operating outside downtown, the revised ordinance lifts a cap on the number of firms that could be licensed.

E-scooters from Divvy, which is part of Lyft, are available to rent downtown through a contract with the Chicago Department of Transportation and are not affected by the proposed licensing changes, a city official told the committee.

Electric scooters were introduced in Chicago in two pilot programs in 2019 and 2020 and became a permanent fixture in 2021. Ridership has boomed over the years, with Lime reporting more than 1 million rides in 2023. The company attributed that growth partly to equity discounts offered on the South and West sides.