S.D. AIMS TO RELAX ITS STRICT RULES ON SCOOTERS

City now has no operators and zero vehicles for rent

A key San Diego committee endorsed loosening regulations for electric scooters on Wednesday in an effort to lure back several operators that have left the city based partly on its strict rules.

The proposal to soften city regulations, which was approved 3-0 by the City Council’s Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, comes less than a week after the city’s last scooter company ceased operations in San Diego.

Between August 2021 and now, San Diego has gone from having half a dozen operators and an average of 8,000 scooters deployed to having zero operators and zero scooters.

That leaves the city without a convenient option for getting around that city officials say is crucial to fighting climate change and reducing congestion as neighborhoods become more densely populated.

The city also lacks any docked bike-share programs or any car-sharing programs like Car2Go or ZipCar.

Under the proposal, the city would retreat from a rule that keeps scooters off sidewalks by forcing companies to install speed-throttling technology on the devices that slows them to 3 mph when their GPS detects a sidewalk.

Instead, riders would only get audio alerts when they ride onto a sidewalk.

Other proposed changes include allowing scooters to be deployed in more locations, lowering fees and softening identification requirements for riders that aim to prevent underage use.

“We believe that the adjustments provide a balance on a number of fronts to ensure the program has the opportunity to be successful,” said Councilmember Kent Lee, who is spearheading the changes. “We’re certainly at a critical stage for this program.”

Lee stressed that bans on sidewalk parking and on using scooters on boardwalks

would remain in place.

Councilmember Marni von Wilpert said she supported the changes because they strike a balance between pedestrians and scooter users.

Janet Rogers, leader of a scooter watchdog group called Safe Walkways, harshly criticized the proposed changes. She said they would roll back enforcement that her group spent years fighting for.

“We will have dangerous and noisy sidewalks all day and all night,” she said. “This