Scooters coming to Dayton, complete with launch party
Spin to become first company offering the popular product here.
Electric scooters are coming later this month to downtown Dayton.
Spin will be the first company to bring the popular electric scooters here, following their rapid rise in popularity around the U.S.
The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority tweeted that the official launch party for Spin will be 11 a.m. Aug. 21 in Courthouse Square.
The launch party will include demonstrations, a group ride and
representatives from the scooter company on hand to talk about safety tips and rules about where the electric scooters will be available in the city.
Customers use a mobile phone app to locate the scooters and activate them. The scooters usually are dockless, meaning they can be left anywhere and tracked using built-in GPS.
Customers pay to rent the scooters. When they arrive at their destination, they can just leave them on the street for the next customer to find with the app.
The Dayton Daily News previously reported that Spin was one of the companies that had approached the city about coming to town.
In April, city commissioners approved legislation that imposes new rules on electric-motorized devices and the companies that rent them out.
Electric scooters and other devices will be barred from operating on the sidewalk, except in order to park. They will be required to have lighting and will not be allowed to travel faster than 15 mph. Generally, the regulations will treat electric transportation devices like bicycles when it comes to the rules of the road, city officials said. Groups that rent scooters and electric transportation devices will have to apply for permits to operate in Dayton.
They will have to comply with rules such as removing rental scooters by nightfall or risk having them confiscated and impounded. Operators will pay a service fee and a daily fee for every electric scooter or transportation device that is available for rent.
The new rules and regulations seek to prevent the kind of problems other cities across the country have had when companies drop electric scooters and other devices on their streets.