SM Tries To Contain Scooter Contagion
Written by 991KBU on June 14, 2018
In news from down the coast … Electric scooter enthusiasts showed up in numbers at the Tuesday night Santa Monica City Council meeting …
And the city approved a watered-down set of proposed regulations on the scooters … according to the Santa Monica daily press newspaper.
One company alone … Bird … has scattered 1500 scooters around Santa Monica.
Residents are complaining that the scooters are being dropped off in front of their houses and businesses … and that scooter patrons are zipping down sidewalks.
One resident said pedestrians have become bowling pins and cannot walk safely down the street.
A lawyer for the company admitted Bird is far from perfect.
But Bird presented a thousand or so identical letters from its customers … praising the ubiquitousness and handiness of having scooters on-demand.
This city has decided not to cap the number of scooters … which are now being distributed by
both Bird and another company … Lime.
In addition … two companies are leaving electric rental bicycles all over Santa Monica as well.
One city councilman was quoted by the Santa Monica daily press as saying
“cities like Santa Monica haven’t seen so much disruption on our streets since Henry Ford flooded them with Model Ts and scared the horses.”
The Santa Monica Daily Press reports a pilot program will be started with electric bike and scooter companies working with the city to establish pick up and drop-off zones.
Some street parking places maybe converted into scooter depots.
