Scooters have taken over Santa Monica, caused fury in San Francisco and are spreading to other US cities and likely Britain. Are they fun and environmentally friendly or a dangerous nuisance?
Electric share scooters have taken over Santa Monica, an affluent beachside city on the edge of Los Angeles, but as they swiftly spread across other cities in California and the US a backlash is already gathering force.
Download an app, scan a scooter’s barcode and away you go, zipping at up to 15mph to your destination. You leave the scooter on the pavement for the next rider.
Bird, a startup run by former Uber executives, launched the scooters in Santa Monica last September. Hundreds were deposited around the city overnight, the devices so ubiquitous people literally tripped over them.
They have thrilled, bemused and aggravated – feelings San Francisco, San Jose, Austin and Washington DC are now experiencing as scooters from Bird and two other startups, LimeBike and Spin, hit their streets, with dozens more cities due to receive them this year.
A full-scale backlash is under way in San Francisco, where some scooters have been tossed into trash cans and lakes. The city attorney has threatened to impound scooters, calling them dangerous, unlawful and examples of tech arrogance. City hall is exploring ways to regulate the devices.
With a global market in their sights, the scooter startups are pushing back
Bird comes armed with $115m (£80.3m) in investment funding and seems to take the Uber-esque, hard-charging stance on regulation that it is better to seek forgiveness than permission. A tangle with Santa Monica officials earned a criminal complaint and hefty fine.
“The demand is huge. We’re looking to reach more than 50 markets this year and eventually have Birds all over the world,” says Stephen Schnell, the company’s vice president of operations, noting that Britain is on the company’s radar. “We try to pick cities that have bicycle lane infrastructure.”
Schnell, like Bird’s CEO Travis VanderZanden, previously worked at Lyft and Uber.
Ride sharing companies are shaking up urban transport but many commuters still have the “last mile” problem: a distance too far to walk and too short to drive, says Schnell. “This is a way to get people out of their vehicles.”
Marlon Boarnet, an urban planning and spatial analysis professor at the University of Southern California, says dockless scooters can facilitate short trips while being light on the environment and using minimal space.
“Traditionally we view this as walking or bicycling, but the concept can and should be extended to light and small powered vehicles like electric scooters. One could also include in this set small neighborhood electric vehicles or electric motor assisted bicycles. We should expand our idea of what an acceptable ‘short trip’ vehicle is.”
Boarnet hopes the companies and city authorities can resolve issues such as where the scooters are left. When clumped in the middle of a pavement scooters can seem more nuisance clutter than transport revolution.
The boom and bust of dockless bicycles in several markets – exemplified by a picture of a bicycle graveyard in China – act as a cautionary tale.
The Guardian scooted around Santa Monica for a week to try them out. The longest journey was from the city’s downtown to Bird’s headquarters in Venice, three miles away. It took 17 minutes and cost $3.55 – a $1 base fee plus 15 cents per minute.
The experience was positive. Scooters were easy to find with the app’s map pinpointing devices left by trees, parking meters, benches and doorways.
Once you’ve scanned and unlocked the barcode with your phone there’s a childlike glee in kicking off with your foot, pushing the handlebar’s throttle button and gliding down the street.
Not encased in a shell of metal and glass, you feel connected to your surroundings – both hands are needed to steer so it is difficult to text or fiddle with your phone.
Tootling down Main Street, the most striking impression was the response of pedestrians, cyclists, skateboarders and motorists: in most cases there wasn’t one. In September the scooters were a novelty and drew stares. Now they’re part of the streetscape and barely remarked upon – except by some tourists who gawk and take pictures.
Bird reports quick adoption; there are more than 50,000 regular riders in and around Santa Monica, and riders in San Francisco notched up more than 60,000 miles in just 17 days. “It’s kind of amazing,” says Schnell.
What’s amazing, say critics, is the irresponsibility of the scooter companies and many of their riders.
Few wear helmets in Santa Monica. It is common to see children riding scooters, two people on one scooter, parked scooters cluttering sidewalks and moving scooters scattering pedestrians on sidewalks. San Francisco residents have joined Santa Monicans in venting on social media.
ಠ_ಠ (@MikeIsaac)
i know ive been railing on this all week but it is a literal physical manifestation of startup hubris:
“we know better, and will ram it down your throat until you understand.”
Riders are supposed to be licensed drivers, helmeted and are meant to ride on streets, preferably in bicycle lanes. Users need a driver’s licence to download the app and upon request Bird sends free helmets. Still, improper use abounds. According to a city spokesperson, so far Santa Monica has recorded 11 accidents, some serious, 328 citations and 694 traffic stops.
Irked that Bird launched with little or no warning, city authorities filed a criminal complaint over lack of business licences and vendor permits. Both sides settled in February, with Bird promising to seek the licences and to pay more than $300,000 in fines.
“Even though they got off to a rocky start we didn’t move to kick them out because based on our values we’re really committed to this new model of mobility,” says Anuj Gupta, Santa Monica’s deputy city manager.
There has been no detectable impact on car congestion but scooters are now part of the transport mix, he says. “We honestly understand and share in the excitement about these devices.”
But there’s another concern. If Bird and rival startups plant scooters on every block won’t people have even less incentive to walk and exercise?
“You mean WALL-E world,” says Schnell, referencing the Pixar film in which future humans become obese gluttons ensconced in padded floating arm chairs. “Let’s hope not. With the scooters at least you have to stand.”
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