So much for the utopian idea of eco-friendly, electric scooters helping solve the Bay Area’s urban transportation woes.
A week after impounding 66 rentable scooters that were blocking sidewalks and doorways, the San Francisco city attorney this week declared them a “public nuisance” and issued “cease and desist” orders to the three companies operating them. At the same time, the cities of Oakland and San Jose are considering new rules and permits to regulate them.
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The chaotic start less than three weeks ago to what LimeBike, Bird and Spin had hoped would be a celebratory launch in the Bay Area has instead descended into drama, confusion and indignation, especially in San Francisco. Last week, Bird issued a news release titled, “BREAKING: Bird Stands Up to SF Board Threat,” accusing the board of supervisors of planning to use an obscure rule to ban the scooters.
On Tuesday, San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin said he had only drafted “common sense” permit and safety regulations, not a ban, and in an interview with this news organization, called the scooter company execs “a bunch of spoiled brats.”
“They dumped thousands of these on city streets, harking back to the bad old days of asking for forgiveness rather than permission,” Peskin said. “San Francisco has learned from the earlier experience of Airbnb and Uber that we should be at the table from the beginning and not after the fact.”
It was the San Francisco city attorney, not the supervisors, who announced late Monday the “cease and desist” order, which gives the three companies until April 30 to show they are complying with state and city laws. Before then, the companies are expected to immediately stop unlawful operations, including what has become a common sight of scooters whizzing along sidewalks and people riding without helmets.
Shared bike and scooter companies, some of which got their starts in Asia and Europe, have been launching operations in major cities across the United States. The initial goal was to help travelers with the “first mile and last mile” of their commutes to and from transit hubs and on to office or home. The scooters have become a fun and zippy alternative for students getting to class at urban universities and to entertainment spots around downtowns.
To rent them, riders use their cell phones to download the companies’ apps, which allows them to “unlock” a scooter and pay $1 to get started and 15 cents per minute. Unlike Ford GoBikes, which worked in partnership with Bay Area cities before it launched several years ago and requires riders to leave the pedal bikes on designated racks, the motorized scooters are “dockless” and can be picked up and dropped off just about anywhere, which has caused some of the problems.
In a statement Tuesday, Bird, which operates the black motorized scooters, said it was taking the city’s concerns “very seriously,” and that it is confident the company can work with the city. Already, Bird has pledged to pay cities $1 per vehicle per day to “build more bike lanes, promote safe riding and maintain our shared infrastructure.”
After San Francisco issued its “cease and desist” order, Bird announced that it will start a pilot program requiring riders in San Francisco to take photos of the scooters at the end of each ride to ensure they are properly parked — an action that helps solve one, but not all the problems.
LimeBike is going further. Along with requiring riders to take photos of their parking spots, LimeBike said it will provide “LimeSF”-branded helmets to users at its San Francisco headquarters April 22, and continue distributing them around town after that. It will also update its messaging on the scooters themselves to alert users that riding on sidewalks is illegal.
“We recognize we can’t fix every concern overnight,” the LimeBike statement said, but the company will work to be a “lasting partner” with San Francisco.
In Oakland, meanwhile, where shared bikes have piled up at BART stations and blocked ticket gates, City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan proposed a list of 32 rules to regulate rentable scooters and bikes.
“We can have useful, affordable shared mobility for our community, with local jobs, without blocking sidewalks or encouraging chaos, by having responsible regulations,” she said in a statement Monday.
The city of San Jose hasn’t had as many problems with the scooters as San Francisco or Oakland and is taking a more measured approach, giving the city’s Department of Transportation until September to come up with a framework for permits and regulations. Mayor Sam Liccardo has suggested that, at the very least, companies be required to place stickers on the scooters explaining they are illegal to ride on sidewalks.
“With new technologies, there is often a rush to regulate,” Liccardo said Tuesday. “We’re trying to better understand how the scooters are being used and how well or not before we weigh in.”
