[ad_1]
Having been caught off guard by new business models in the past with on-demand transport services such as Uber and online holiday rental sites, the city is trying to overtake one of the country's latest technology services. .
The appearance of electric scooters from Los Angeles to Charleston, unlockable to be used with a smartphone app and scrapped anywhere, has raised concerns about the unsafe operation of the devices and the Crowding of urban sidewalks. Meanwhile, users have praised scooters provided by companies such as Bird, Lime and Spin for providing another alternative transportation for shorter trips.
While scooters present a unique transportation option for individuals, they also present a host of challenges for local communities, said City Manager Rob Hernandez at Savannah City Council at a workshop dedicated to this issue. last week.
"Runners are known to ride on sidewalks," Hernandez said. "Others ride them on the street, where you are supposed to ride them, but they do not wear a helmet and there is a risk to safety with that."
Often deployed in cities without notice, "shared mobility devices" may soon be banned from operating in Savannah before their potential arrival.
An order before the Savannah City Council next week will not block the use of private scooters, but will prohibit the operation of personal transport vehicles accessed through an on-demand portal, such as a smartphone , and made available to the public. in unmanned self-service places.
If the board chooses to adopt the ban, the order can still be changed to allow for the regulated use of vehicles, said the director of sustainable development, Nick Deffley.
This option is something that the German Bill Durrence says is open.
"The idea was just to handle that before it got ahead," Dourse said. "And if we see solutions that would allow something like this and some benefits, we can certainly think about it in the future."
The potential ban comes at a time when the city is developing alternative transportation options with the aim of reducing the demand for prime parking spaces in the heart of the city center. In addition to recently launching a free downtown shuttle with simplified routes and extended opening hours, the city is planning a partnership with a private, on-demand transportation provider to assist night workers. City officials have also announced plans to expand the shared bike system provided by Chatham Area Transit. Unlike electronic scooters, bicycles must be handed over to stationary docking stations located in the transit center of downtown CAT and Ellis Square.
According to CAT's Director of Planning, Grant Sparks, the bike-sharing sector has evolved to the point where private companies are flooding the market at a modest cost. This has forced some publicly-managed bikeshare programs to rethink their business model, Grant said in an email Thursday.
"And while we do not currently have any self-service bike vendors in Savannah, some of them have already asked the city to start," he said. "The future of CAT's bike program therefore remains unresolved."
According to city authorities, the Savannah College of Art and Design actually operates a student-free bike sharing program for students, but this service would not be affected by the non-anchored scooter ordinance.
"There is a liability because it is limited to students who can be contacted through the system," said Durrence. "So it's not the same thing as a publicly available shared system that can create the issues that concern us here."
John Bennett, executive director of the Savannah Bicycle Campaign, said he understands that the city wants to establish regulations before allowing companies to operate, but that electric scooters, like bicycles, could potentially help meet the mobility needs of the city. community.
"I think it's always worth talking about in a city where so many people do not have access to cars," Bennett said.
Bird has no announcements regarding future city launches, but the company is striving to improve passenger safety by taking measures such as scooter speed limits to a maximum of 15 mph. According to an email spokesperson Mackenzie Long in response to an interview request, they are 18 years old or older and offer free helmets to any driver who requests it through the app.
One of the pillars of Bird's commitment, "Save Our Sidewalks Pledge", is to commit to responsible growth, which means they no longer add scooters to a market before every vehicle counts on average three or more passengers a day, added Long. This avoids problems with congested streets or sidewalks and ensures that the service really meets demand, she said.
Source link
