E-scooters returning to Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE — One day soon, those trendy electric scooters will come roaring back to life on the streets of Fort Lauderdale.

That’s a promise from Mayor Dean Trantalis, who predicts they’ll return by spring.

Bird, Lime and other e-scooter companies voluntarily took their fleets off the streets over initial concerns about a surge in COVID cases, and Fort Lauderdale’s scooter rental program has been in limbo ever since. But the mayor says that’s about to change.

The city will soon be courting scooter rental companies, allowing them to apply for a permit to operate in Fort Lauderdale, Trantalis said.

Fans are looking forward to their return, saying they’re the best way to get around a crowded urban center.

“The millennials love them,” said Dan Lindblade, president and

CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce. “My daughter is 31 and she rides them. They’re a nice option for people like me who don’t want to jump in a car. We’ve been talking about multimodal transportation for a long time now and this is just part of the mix.”

But those who loathe the controversial scooters were hoping they’d stay away for good.

That includes David Blattner, an attorney hit by a pickup truck while riding a scooter through downtown three years ago.

“I think it’s a mistake to bring them back,” Blattner said. “I think the mayor should look at the number of accidents that happen on scooters and the potential damage they can do to pedestrians.”

Blattner, whose recovery took two years, says he will never get back on a scooter.

Miami sounded the death knell for its pilot rental scooter program last week, giving operators just a day to remove the devices from city streets. The program isn’t entirely dead in the water, however. Miami staffers are working on a new scooter initiative with safety guidelines that would come to the commission for approval next year.

In Fort Lauderdale, the scooters sparked controversy soon after they came to town in November 2018. At one point, 2,000 of the two-wheeled boards were available within city limits.

Critics complained about reckless riders and sidewalks left cluttered by scooters dumped helter-skelter after the ride ended.

City officials started considering speed caps and other safety protocols after a series of scooter-related accidents and one death.

When the scooters return,

Trantalis wants to see Fort Lauderdale follow the same safety rules crafted in February 2020, right before the pandemic arrived.

„ Scooter riders will be required to use the bike lane. If there is no bike lane, they should head to the sidewalk.

„ Scooter speed will be capped at 12 mph.

„ Scooters would be left in designated parking corrals when the ride is over.

„ Three busy areas will be off-limits to scooters, whether they are rented or privately owned: The beach, the Riverwalk and Las Olas Boulevard from Andrews Avenue all the way east to Southeast 17 Avenue.

„ Riders who happen to venture into dead zones would find their scooters powering off and rolling to a slow stop through a technology known as geofencing.

Bill Brown, president of Central Beach Alliance, was relieved to hear the beach ban would remain in place.

“The residents are happy they’re not allowed out here,” he said. ”They’re dangerous. As far as downtown, I still question whether they’re a safe mode of transportation.”

The way the mayor sees it, the city has no choice but to find alternative ways of moving people around to coax them out of their cars.

“During pre-Covid days we had 100,000 rides a month,” he said. “And that shows their popularity and their utility in trying to eliminate traffic from our streets. We’re not allowing them on Las Olas or the beach or the Riverwalk. We’re going to learn from our experience.”