In a compact city known for experimentation, popular electric-powered devices are injuring toes, starting fights, prompting debates over regulation; ‘Wild West situation’

By Eliot Brown

April 25, 2018 11:36 a.m. ET

12 COMMENTS

Ben Wolfson glanced up from his phone while walking in downtown San Francisco last week to see a woman whizzing toward him on what looked like a child’s kick scooter.

Easy rider

Easy rider

Only this one had an electric motor. “She was just barreling down” on the sidewalk, he said. Mr. Wolfson, 28 years old, jumped out of the way and shot her a “dirty look,” but said she didn’t react.

“She just had not a care in the world,” he said.

While the rest of the country is pondering the future of tech giants’ pervasive influence in our lives, here in the tech capital, a fiery debate has exploded over the pervasive presence of electric scooters.

Last month, a trio of well-funded startups began flooding the city with hundreds of electric for-rent scooters that can travel up to 15 miles an hour—starting at just $1 a ride. Riders pick them up and leave them most anywhere.

Electric scooters have become popular in San Francisco.

Electric scooters have become popular in San Francisco. PHOTO: JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The whimsical transit option has turned sidewalks into breeding grounds of conflict, pitting pedestrians against fans of cheap car-free transportation. In compact San Francisco, where a freewheeling culture often collides with anti-tech sentiment, scooters are joining an array of unconventional transportation from self-driving cars to electric unicycles.

“All hell broke loose” after the scooters seemingly arrived overnight in San Francisco, said the city’s supervisor, Aaron Peskin, who is spearheading legislation to regulate scooter-sharing programs. It is, he said, “a Wild West situation.”

One resident sent Mr. Peskin a photo of his bloodied toe—injured after tripping on a scooter tossed in front of his house. Hundreds of illegally parked scooters have been impounded, while others have ended up in trash cans and bodies of water.

The sidewalk rage is likely a preview of things to come across the nation given that one of the startups, Bird Rides Inc., just raised $100 million to bring scooters to 50 cities this year.

These aren’t mopeds. They are like children’s Razor scooters—with a platform attached to small wheels and a handlebar—but souped-up with electric motors. Because some riders say they feel more vulnerable on a small scooter than on a bicycle, and wear no helmet, they prefer to steer them on the sidewalks, even though riding them there is illegal.

Even self-professed fans bristle at riders who lack proper decorum. Daniel Singer, 18, an occasional scooter rider, said he was walking on a sidewalk, when he got into a face-off with three oncoming riders on scooters. He stared them down and gestured to the street. One rider grimaced, then moved off the sidewalk.

“It’s a nuisance for pedestrians,” he said.

Officials in San Francisco are trying to regulate scooter use.

Officials in San Francisco are trying to regulate scooter use. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Scooters, located and paid for with apps on phones, cost 15 cents a minute. There aren’t any designated drop-off points; riders just leave them when they’re done. The scooters have GPS, so at night, someone drives around, picks them up and recharges them for the next day.

Scooters sprawled in the middle of sidewalks have drawn ire among the aesthetically concerned. Stickers reading “HEY DUMB F—- GET OFF THE SIDEWALK” have appeared on some scooters, and city officials have impounded scores of illegally parked scooters blocking the use of sidewalks.

Travis VanderZanden, chief executive of Bird Rides, said “we weren’t quite sure what to expect” in terms of a public reaction in San Francisco. Bird and the other scooter companies say they instruct riders to stay off the sidewalk, park at the edge of the sidewalk and wear helmets. Bird offers to ship riders a free helmet.

Electric scooters impounded by the city of San Francisco.

Electric scooters impounded by the city of San Francisco. PHOTO: SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

The massive pileup of opinions spilled into City Hall last week, as angry residents faced off with scooter proponents during a lengthy hearing.

Karen Fishkin, who sits on a local seniors’ organization, took to the lectern to plea for regulation. ‘We’ve been down here to discuss with you Segway, robots on the street, and now scooters,” she said. “Pedestrians are kind of feeling like we’re getting left out in the cold.”

Happy riders seemed confused that people were so indignant about a small two-wheeled vehicle, noting they take cars off the road. Others said they see more trash on the city’s streets than scooters.

Andrew Lee said he used to enjoy riding a mini-Segway, but found it difficult to lug around. The day after he tried a rental scooter, “I gave away my Segway,” he said. Now he rides scooters daily.

Mr. Lee, 33, trekked to City Hall for the hearing, and zipped away on scooter.

Even before scootermania, a stroll through downtown reveals a combination of autonomous cars, electric skateboards, electric unicycles, electric-assisted bikes, and of course, the famous cable cars. The occasional Segway makes an appearance, while the fad of a few years ago, hoverboards, has mostly crashed and burned.

Scooters have joined an array of transportation options.

Scooters have joined an array of transportation options. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

In the scooter skirmish, multiple sides are sparring. Pedestrian advocates are bickering with pro-transit residents. City officials, meanwhile, are upset the companies didn’t wait for them to write the rules.

The transit fracas kicked off last fall when Mr. VanderZanden’s company sprinkled scooters around Santa Monica, Calif., informing the Santa Monica mayor through a LinkedIn message. After a spat with city officials—including a criminal complaint from the city that was later settled—scooter-share is now legal there, and popular. A steady flow of riders today zip up and down the beachside sidewalk.

Mr. VanderZanden says Bird’s customers totaled 90,000 miles of scooter rides in the first three weeks in San Francisco.

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A walk around the city’s financial district reveals a constant stream of scooters. Riders weave in between pedestrians on sidewalks and stopped cars on streets during rush hour, and zip next to bikes in bike lanes—sometimes to the ire of bikers. Occasionally two riders are spotted crammed onto a small scooter.

The city’s solution for taming the Wild West? A permit program, where the city would grant companies the ability to rent out scooters, so long as they follow rules. City officials say they hope to have rules crafted next month.

For now, the fight goes on. The city has been scooping up parked scooters that block the sidewalk, which is illegal. The city impounded nearly 300 scooters last week, fining each company to pick them up, said Rachel Gordon, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Public Works.

“We just got mounting complaints,” she said.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3959483&forum_id=2#35916834)

Of course here comes daddy government to put up a bunch of red tape. For the time being just let it do

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3959483&forum_id=2#35917197)

what about homeless all hell breaking loose

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3959483&forum_id=2#35917253)

lol, oldfucks love their rascal scooters (much bigger) and no one says shit to them

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3959483&forum_id=2#35917275)

WTF

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3959483&forum_id=2#35920150)