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A woman rides a motorized scooter at Washington Square Park in San Francisco on April 17th. (Jeff Chiu / AP)
Scooters have to make a return to the streets of San Francisco after a temporary ban that has allowed transportation officials to develop regulations for popular vehicles.
As part of a one – year pilot plan starting Monday, San Francisco has authorized two companies – Scoot and Skip – to provide electronic scooters in parts of the city. The devices will be relegated to bike lanes and prohibited to sidewalks.
"Scooters – or any other form of mobility – we want to make sure they are safe, durable and equitable, and that they complement the bike ride," said Brian Wiedenmeier, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, who weighed down the plan.
San Francisco's experience with electric scooters is well known because of its proximity to Silicon Valley, which has made its streets an occasional testing laboratory for experimentation and disruption in the field of high performance. technology. It's also instructive for other cities like Washington, DC, which are still working on regulations that encourage the use of alternative means of transportation, such as scooters and bikes without pedestals, while protecting pedestrians and cyclists . In August, the district announced the extension of its pilot program for dockless bicycles and scooters until December, but it also tightened rules on how to secure devices when they are not not used.
[D.C. extends pilot program for dockless bikes and scooters]
Aaron Peskin (D), a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said municipal officials have acknowledged that people are quickly adopting scooters to get around city traffic jams when traveling too long on foot or for pleasure. But city officials also did not want sidewalks to become pedestrian crossings or open dumpsters for unused scooters. He added that San Francisco imposed its ban in April after several scooter companies, such as Bird and Lime, had abandoned scooters in the streets and something like a pandemonium had been put in place.
"All elected officials and department heads in the city of San Francisco have been the subject of thousands of complaints. It looked a bit like the bad old days of the worst excesses of technology, where they wanted to ask forgiveness rather than permission, "said Peskin, chairman of the board of SFCTA (San Francisco County Transportation Authority), said that most of the protests aroused came from pedestrians.
"They ranged from parents with strollers to people with physical difficulties in wheelchairs, to ordinary pedestrians facing devices at less than 25 mph that are not supposed to be on the sidewalks, with crazy punks. of testosterone zipping on the sidewalks, "said Peskin. He added that public health officials have also reported an increase in injuries, including pedestrians who stumbled on abandoned scooters left on the sidewalks.
[Her scooter was a blast — until she broke her leg]
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) then reviewed 12 applications from various companies competing for five niches, including a commitment to safe driving and parking. The agency said they chose Scoot and Skip because both offer headphones, instructional videos or other educational assistance.
As part of the pilot program, each company can install 625 scooters on the street for the first six months. If all goes well, the SFMTA is empowered to increase the ceiling to 2,500 machines. City officials also plan to review the pilot project next year. In addition, Peskin said, San Francisco has regulated how companies can use financial data provided by runners and urged other cities to do the same.
"If they sell you a ride on a scooter, they should sell you a ride on a scooter and not sell your financial DNA," he said.
[D.C. must do more to address safety after deaths of bicyclist and scooter, council member says]
Wiedenmeier said the cycling coalition, which has more than 10,000 members, is pleased with the city's decision to choose scooter companies whose business plans focus on security, sustainability and equity. Skip is offering a 50% discount to low-income users, for example, while Scoot was addressing sustainability concerns by using batteries that can be swapped into the devices instead of taking them off the street to recharge them.
Not all cyclists are willing to share bike lanes with scooters, with some fearing that speed differences between scooters and bicycles may be dangerous, Wiedenmeier said. At the same time, however, many would rather have scooters than more cars.
Peskin agreed.
"I've been very clear from the outset that these devices may well be another tool to solve San Francisco's transit problems, and build what we call a first-mile, last-mile solution – but only for the first time. They are used in adulthood, says Peskin.
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