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This week, Scooters returned to the streets of San Francisco.
As previously reported, only two companies--Scoot and Skip--were allowed to deploy scooters under SFMTA's program. That means a total of 1,250 scooters are back on the streets of San Francisco, or 625 for each company.
“We are ready to extend our offering in San Francisco to provide another fun, fast, affordable way for citizens to get around. We look forward to continuing to partner with the City to responsibly manage this new mode of transportation,” said Scoot CEO Michael Keating in a prepared statement.
SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose had this to say:
The pilot is an opportunity for a thorough evaluation and monitoring of scooter share programs in San Francisco. Some of the things we will be evaluating: 1. Understanding safety impacts of scooters; 2. Assessing the impact of scooter share on the public right of way; 3. Evaluating the use of permitted scooter share systems to identify geographic and demographic gaps; 4. Understanding any unforeseen impacts of scooter operations on the communities they serve.
So how's it going so far? Streetsblog would like to hear from readers, but here are a few initial impressions from advocates, rabble-rousers, and Streetsblog California editor Melanie Curry:
Scooters seemed to be scattered about more or less evenly but it remains to be seen if that continues. I rode a Scoot (my phone was dying and I couldn't download the Skip app--long boring story) and it was terrifying. I was on Market Street, which admittedly can be scary anyway, but I ride my bike there all the time and feel more confident about moving through/around crazy car traffic and over potholes on my bike than on that tiny thing that goes fast without anything more than a push of my thumb. I sure wanted to get up on the sidewalk!!!
Sidewalk scooter riding was a big part of why pedestrian advocates first clashed with Bird, Lime, and Spin when they first launched in San Francisco in April, before a permit system was in place. All three companies have since removed their scooters from San Francisco, although they are now ubiquitous in Oakland and elsewhere in the Bay Area.
"I haven't seen anyone riding on the sidewalk or parking badly (yet). This morning I saw a Skip that was tipped over, but I just stood it back up," wrote Samir Lavingia, who IDs himself on Twitter as someone who just complains "about the Muni and lack of alternative transportation options."
On the other hand, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that some bad scooter habits have already resurfaced, including the aforementioned sidewalk riding.
The always amusing Bob Gunderson had this reaction to a tweet from Supervisor Aaron Peskin about the permit program, sidewalk riding, and the scooter relaunch:
Of course, the best way to keep scooters off the sidewalks is to provide safe bike lanes so riders don't feel as if they're flirting with death when they go for a ride.
In fact, many bike advocates see real potential for scooters to help in the effort to promote safe bike infrastructure--if they stick around. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Brian Wiedenmeier, in a recent post, echoed that hope: "People who bike and those invested in e-scooters both benefit from the same safety improvements to our streets, so we stand ready to collaborate when these companies make a genuine commitment to champion positive changes."
As to parked scooters blocking sidewalks, Lavingia wrote that he blames the SFMTA for that. "We should be converting parking spaces into bike and scooter parking or creating specific parking zones (even if they are on the sidewalk). Asking users to park in the 'furniture zone' is too nebulous."
He added that:
In Singapore, the Land Transport Authority had this problem with bikes, and solved it by simply painting some yellow boxes. In Cincinnati, the local government was slow to act and an individual took it upon himself to create Bird Cages to solve the problem. I'm hoping that the SFMTA will do something similar instead of blaming the scooter companies or the users if/when complaints start to happen.
Others worried that the scooter cap is effectively preventing this new mobility choice from becoming a useful option in San Francisco.
Or, as Brad Williford, an advocate who is lobbying for a removal of caps and other restrictions on bike share, tweeted:
Bike and safe-streets advocate and Streetsblog contributor Kyle Grochmal went down to Market Street this morning and had this impression: "From my perspective, the e-scooters just aren't being utilized much yet. During my time on Market, I saw ten bike shares, one personal e-scooter, and one Skip scooter. Maybe it's because people weren't expecting them or haven't downloaded the apps yet. Maybe it's because there are far fewer of them than when Bird, Lime, and Spin were around."
Are you using Scoot and Skip? Do you see scooters as a fad, a transformative mobility option, or something in the middle? What are your impressions of the SFMTA permit program and the re-launch? Post your thoughts below.
