SFMTA votes to perpetuate escooters

The electric scooter craze that took over San Francisco streets last year may become permanent, the city’s transportation board decided Tuesday.

In a 42 vote, board directors for the Municipal Transportation Agency ended an 18month pilot program that allowed two companies, Skip and Scoot, to operate 2,500 twowheeled vehicles on city streets. Directors removed that cap and invited escooter companies to apply for permits annually. Incoming transportation chief Tom Maguire will determine how many permits to dole out each year.

Some board directors said they aren’t fully sold on escooters as a new way of getting around.

“I’m a skeptic about these scooters, period,” said Director Steve Heminger, one of the “no” votes. “They seem to be a solution in search of a problem.”

He suspected that a lot of people use escooters instead of walking.

Director Cheryl Brinkman supported the new escooter program but said she doubts the technology has real staying power, especially given that the companies aren’t generating a profit, she said.

Yet other directors countered that escooters provide an environmentally friendly form of transport for people who might otherwise hail an Uber or Lyft car. And cutting into the ridehail industry means fewer distracted drivers on the road, said SFMTA director Ed Reiskin, who will step down next month.

Escooters are “probably better than a car driven by someone who doesn’t know where they’re going, who is staring (down) at an app, looking for fares,” he said.

The new escooter rules require the devices to have builtin locks to deter theft, a new permit fee schedule and a new fine structure for escooters that are inappropriately stashed on the sidewalk, among other things. SFMTA will issue new permits by Oct. 15.

“I’m a skeptic about these scooters, period. They seem to be a solution in search of a problem.”

Steve Heminger, director, Municipal Transportation Agency