Earlier this week when I wrote about scooters, I made the point that despite their popularity, they still risk disappearing the way bikeshare did. This is not something the city is necessarily saying (and for the record, I don’t want it to be true). But I’m reading the tea leaves as officials take extra time to negotiate a deal with scooter companies, which will then need approval from City Council. I take that to mean they’re having trouble striking the right note.
There are safety issues to address, and the city wants the companies to pay more in fees that can go toward improving the infrastructure they’re using. Instituting a daily fee per scooter—rather than the current yearly model—could have the added effect of reducing how many of the things are in Dallas. But go too far and you risk scaring companies away. Lyft decided to leave us last week.
Anyway, I’ve since wondered where we actually, collectively are on this topic. Scooters blasted into town with fanfare and good press. They were fun. They went ridiculously fast. They offered a solution to our last-mile transportation issues. Then, the warts started to show. Having so many of them—15,000!—in town means they sometimes muck up our sidewalks, particularly when they start toppling. Scooterists zoom by us on those same sidewalks because officers haven’t been able to effectively enforce the law (how could they?) that scooters belong on the street. And, again, there’s the safety aspect: scooter accidents sent at least 40 people to Baylor’s ER during both July and August.
It leads me here: Are scooters that popular in Dallas anymore? Or is this an experiment that’s losing steam?
And it leads me to this poll, where you get to help us put a finger on the answer. Here we go.
