Reinventing the wheels
A woman pedaled hard uphill on her rented bicycle Wednesday night on the Riverwalk, while a young man zipped past her on a Bird electric scooter — two forms of transportation that weren’t available in Memphis six months ago.
“It’s been really great,” Downtown Memphis Commission President Jennifer Oswalt said. “We feel this has increased the vibrancy tenfold Downtown.”
Explore Bike Share launched in May, and Bird scooters debuted downtown a few weeks later.
Bird scooters quickly became ubiquitous Trump: ‘It certainly looks’ as if Saudi journalist is dead. downtown. But whether they’ll maintain their popularity, especially as the weather turns colder, is a question, said Nicholas Oyler, the city’s bikeway and pedestrian program manager.
“I think it’s a little too early to say what their lasting effects will be,” Oyler said. “I know they’re fun to ride and a lot of people I talk to have said they’re using them more for recreation. But I also see people downtown using them on their lunch break or going to a meeting.”
Oswalt thinks the scooters and bikes will continue being popular, and as the temperatures dip, the bikes may see even more use, she said.
The city has an interim agreement with Bird currently, while permanent regulations over mobility-sharing companies are in the final stages at City Hall, Oyler said.
The interim agreement in place has Bird paying the city $1 a day per scooter for the 676 scooters currently in Memphis. Check out X-Men, other X-Citements at The Memphis Comic Expo. According to data the company provided to the city earlier this month, the scooters were being taken out for an average of two to three trips per day, Oyler said.
The new rules being drafted by city officials will set out a new fee structure, give the city the teeth to crack down on the companies for scooters that block sidewalks and set standards for what data the company must provide the city with.
From Los Angeles to Charlotte, electric scooters have infiltrated city streets and sidewalks, but some of those cities have encountered challenges in trying to regulate the new industry, as with other companies that rose to popularity as part of the sharing economy, like Uber and Airbnb.
Around the time Bird scooters de-
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buted in Memphis, the company agreed to suspend its operation in Nashville until city officials there had a chance to set out rules for the dockless devices.
The scooters are rented using a mobile application, and ditched on the sidewalk when riders are done — stood in lines on downtown sidewalks, and sometimes piled into a Bird “nest.”
The company pays people to round up scooters, charge them overnight and put them back on the sidewalk for use in the morning.
Spokesman Mike Schmidt said that Bird scooters are now in 100 cities, and people have taken 10 million rides in the company’s first year.
Oyler’s office has received complaints about where scooters are being left, and encouraged people to contact the company directly with those complaints, but said his office can coordinate with Bird to get those issues fixed.
Oswalt said there were some concerns to begin with about where the scooters were being parked, but that Bird has been responsive.
“I think it’s been successful here because of the planning process ahead, rather than just dropping them off and figuring it out later,” Oswalt said.
Bike share can fill gaps
Explore Bike Share currently has 600 bikes in Memphis, at stations spread across Memphis, including South Memphis and Orange Mound.
Explore Bike Share also recently announced plans to expand to the University of Memphis campus next fall.
In parts of the city where the rates of car ownership are lower, bike sharing provides a cost-effective way to fill gaps for residents, like people who have a particularly long walk to the bus stop. Data the city is gathering from the companies will help show city officials if there are places with heavy usage that don’t currently have bike lanes, Oyler said.
“When we see more people on bikes, it makes a strong case for bike lanes and streets that are safe for all users,” Oyler said.
Jamie Munks covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at 901-529-2536, jamie.munks@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @journo_jamie_.