Scooters take off in Pittsburgh
Pilot effort adjusts as popularity grows
They are everywhere.
The black and orange electric scooters owned by Ford’s Spin company are the latest addition to the area’s transportation options. But how well is the program doing in Pittsburgh after two months?
As of Thursday, Spin had recorded 96,343 rides in Pittsburgh since its launch July 9. The scooters — there now are about 900 of them — were brought to town by the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure’s Move PGH program, which aims to increase mobility while reducing carbon emissions.
The daily average of Spin scooter usage in Pittsburgh is
between 1,500 and 4,300 trips, with the highest ridership on Saturdays, city officials said.
Many trips are being taken in neighborhoods with low auto
-mobile ownership and in minority neighborhoods, according to Karina Ricks, director of
the city Department of Mobility and Infrastructure. A lot of trips also are being recorded in more congested areas, such as Downtown, she said.
Riders must be 18 years old, have a valid driver’s license, have a smartphone and download an app to use the scooters. They must put $10 to their accounts before riding; riders are charged $1 plus 39 cents per minute. People with lower incomes can get discounts through the Spin Access Program, the company said.
Riders must pass a short quiz about scooter usage before becoming a first-time rider.
Complaints
In the seven weeks since the pilot launched, there have been roughly 600 complaints about scooter usage. The vast majority of complaints or calls are related to illegally parked scooters. Other complaints are about user behavior, city spokeswoman Molly Onufer said Friday.
Riders have parked scooters illegally near inclines, tunnels, handicap parking spaces and on sidewalks, officials said. In the past week, a Twitter user posted a photo of a man riding a Spin scooter in the Liberty Tunnel.
“We’re still receiving complaints, and we receive complaints of all kinds. But the program is actually going very well. ... We didn’t think people would take [the scooters] into the Liberty Tunnels initially,” Ms. Ricks said. “So after seeing the tweet of the guy in the tunnels, we adapted and changed the rules. Now, people can’t take them into tunnels.
“We don’t want people complaining; that’s not our goal. The program is still very new, and we are adapting as we go,” Ms. Ricks said. “Some people don’t like them because they just don’t like them. Others complain because there are legitimate concerns, and we take those concerns very seriously.”
Spin can identify who used a scooter last, so the company can issue warnings to users, Ms. Onufer said. Spin can fine riders and suspend their accounts after warnings, the company said. Feedback about scooters can be reported directly to Spin or through Pittsburgh’s nonemergency 311 response line.
Spin rider DeAsia Brannon, 30, of Butler, said she can understand the frustrations.
She works in Coraopolis but is often in Pittsburgh.
“I’ve experienced people being annoyed with me while I was riding a scooter,” Ms. Brannon said. “I’ve had people honk at me or drive around me. I personally don’t think [ the scooters] should be allowed on the main roads. I think there should be more places for bike lanes and scooters in general, off to the side.”
Scooters are not allowed in areas with posted speeds greater than 25 mph, the company said. They are allowed to be parked in three spaces: legal motor vehicle spaces, in any designated space for scooters and at charging stations, Ms. Ricks said. Riders are to follow the flow of traffic on roads or travel in bike lanes.
‘Rebalancing’
Every night, Spin employees
driving company vans perform what is called “rebalancing” by going across the city and picking up scooters, Ms. Onufer said. Spin has six vans with 29 full-time employees in Pittsburgh.
“To my knowledge, they have employees working around the clock, although most of the work to rebalance and recharge scooters is done at night between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.,” Ms. Onufer said.
Spin scooters are equipped with a computer chip that communicates to a central system. The devices are capable of going 27 mph, but they are set to only go up to 15 mph.
“You can’t push the device to go faster than that,” Ms. Ricks said. “Operators can track where all of these scooters are. We’ve basically identified the places the scooters aren’t allowed, so the power will shut off
when you enter those zones, although it will still move and you can walk the scooter along and out of the prohibited zone.”
While Spin may fine riders after issuing warnings, the city does not.
“We’re just trying to get people to use them in the way they should be used and park them where they should be parked,” Ms. Ricks said. “We’re not satisfied until we get everybody to follow the rules. Every week we’re making changes in the system to tighten things up. In Pittsburgh, we’ve seen more underage riding than in other cities. But 20 percent of people in Pittsburgh don’t have a car. Providing more options for transportation is a big part of what we’re doing here.”