Electric scooters have returned to the Rose City for a second go around. The Portland Bureau of Transportation has issued permits to Bolt, Lime and Spin. Only Lime (the green one) was in Portland for the four-month pilot last summer. Scooters hit the streets last Friday afternoon.
All submitting companies had to jump through a series of only-in-Portland hoops.
These include:
Geofencing, wherein the scooter’s GPS is set so that riders cannot end rides at Waterfront Park and will be fined for dumping scooters in other parks. Fines. It will be $50 for riding on sidewalks and $15 for illegal parking.
Four other companies (Clevr Mobility, Jump, Razor USA and Shared Technologies) are in line for licenses, although they must submit further proof that they qualify. They could launch within weeks.
The new pilot program will last one year.
Companies that help eliminate sidewalk riding, improper parking and help generating high ridership in East Portland will be allowed to expand their fleets.
PBOT will charge a 5- to 20-cent right-of-way fee to the companies and develop more protected bike lanes and neighborhood greenways. The first pilot showed that scooter riders prefer riding on bike lanes, when they are available, to sidewalks.
Small squares will be marked on sidewalks and streets as Scooter Parking places, to prevent them blocking the right of way. PBOT has drawn a map of scooter-friendly routes in Portland. Transportation Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said in a statement that scooters were fun and popular but the city wanted to address some safety and equity concerns.
“Our streets are a valuable public asset – if private industry wants access to our streets, they have to demonstrate alignment with our values and priorities, pay a reasonable fee for the privilege, and deliver social benefit. This second scooter pilot will allow us to gather more data, increase equity and accessibility, and make the most of this ‘last mile’ technology in Portland.”
Chris Warner, PBOT’s Interim Director said data from the pilot would help the city learn about how people use them, with a view to expanding from 2,500 scooters to 9,000.
Twelve companies applied to operate scooters by April 9, 2019. After testing their data PBOT staff chose the finalists likely to reduce barriers to access, supporting environmental sustainability, and improving pedestrian comfort. PBOT bragged that it had shared with the public more data on the use of scooters than any other city in the nation and produced a comprehensive report.
