San Francisco welcomes back scooters, but not Uber and Lyft

SAN FRANCISCO — The scooters are baaa-ack. 

Two companies were granted permits Thursday by city supervisors to operate app-accessed electric scooters, marking a return of the rental vehicles that launched here in March and were immediately sought after by riders, but were shut down in June over concerns by some residents and shopkeepers.

Scoot and Skip, were granted approval to introduce their scooters to the public beginning Oct 15. Each company is limited to 625 scooters, which some company executives had cautioned would not be enough to meet demand.

City officials countered that a controlled and limited rollout was critical to ensuring that scooters were used as intended and didn't result in accidents or inconvenience.

The San Francisco Municipal Transport Agency said both companies were eligible to deploy up to 2,500 scooters over the next year, depending on how the rollout unfolds.

The agency said it received 12 applications from companies that included Bird, Jump and car hailing firms Uber and Lyft, but that Scoot and Skip sent applications that "demonstrated not only a commitment to meet the terms of the permit, but a high level of capability to operating a safe, equitable and accountable scooter share service."

Skip CEO Sanjay Dastoor said in a statement that he was eager to engage with "community groups, police and park services, and city officials to be responsive to concerns and explore solutions like tip-over detection and lock-to technology."

Those who did not make the cut expressed their concern that residents might not be well-served by the limited number of companies serving the city.

"Granting only two scooter permits unnecessarily limits mobility options in San Francisco, and we plan to follow up with the SFMTA to share our concerns," says Uber spokesperson Kaitlin Durkosh.

Lyft's bike and scooter policy lead Caroline Samponaro said in a statement that while the company remained "hopeful that we will have the chance to offer scooters in San Francisco in the future."

Granting only two scooter permits unnecessarily limits mobility options in San Francisco, and we plan to follow up with the SFMTA to share our concerns.”

From coast to coast, scooters, which typically cost $1 to unlock and charge by time, quickly have come to symbolize both a freedom from car-based commuting but also the tyranny of tech companies who for years launched their products first and apologized second.

More:In the Scooter Wars of 2018, it's not really about the scooters

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In San Francisco, the motorized scooters enjoyed immediate use by commuters dogged by dense traffic. But pedestrians and shop owners soon complained in droves about finding the two-wheeled devices strewn along sidewalks and even in streets. Some critics took to flinging scooters into trees and the San Francisco Bay, while others defaced them with feces.

And this city is far from alone in trying to grapple with the scooter revolution.

From Seattle to Washington, D.C., city officials are meeting in order to debate how to welcome the eco-conscious product  — whose presence can paint a city as progressive on transportation — while acknowledging public safety and liability concerns. 

Santa Monica, which has had its own battles with scooter companies, announced Thursday that it was issuing permits to a variety of bike and scooter companies for a new, monitored rollout that begins Sept. 17. Among the companies chosen were Lime, Lyft and Bird.

Companies such as Lime and Bird appear eager to ride through the current turbulence, and have booked millions from investors who want to profit from the growing consumer shift away from traditional car ownership and towards mobility-as-a-service.

Uber not only dove into the space with its $100 million acquisition of Jump bikes, but it is also now reported to be working on its own scooter that is more resistant to vandals, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. The design of scooters, which impact everything from their ease of use to their reliability, is considered integral to winning in this competitive marketplace.

But other companies are being hit hard by city rules aimed at regulating both scooters and bikes. For example, Chinese bike-sharing giant Ofo had to pull its service from Washington, D.C., Chicago and Miami in the wake of new regulations and licensing fees that company officials said made operating at a profit prohibitive. 

Urban transportation experts say cities are wise to pull back and rethink a best-practice approach to having e-bikes and scooters in their cities, especially given the potential risk of injuries to users.

Of note is the fact that scooters, with their small wheels, are more likely to catch on small imperfections in sidewalks, bike lanes or streets, which in turn could cause city officials to allocate funds toward infrastructure upgrades to help avoid accidents and lawsuits.

Although keeping lines of communication between city officials and company executives open — where the scooters are used, how often and by whom — will be key to a successful operation, liability issues still loom.

"There's still a gap in terms of external risk management, mainly in terms of how cities and states view these modes of transportation which in turn dictates how they can be used and how insurance can kick in," says Thom Rickert, emerging risks specialist with Trident Public Risk Solutions.

Rickert says that if an electric scooter or bike is considered a motorized vehicle, that prevents them from being ridden on sidewalks.

He also says that while a user's home owner's insurance would likely cover an incident on a device not categorized as a motor vehicle, an auto policy would have to kick in if the scooter was viewed as a motor vehicle. 

"You may have a situation where users will be charged a small fee when they activate a scooter with an app, which will cover them for the duration of the ride," he says. "There are still lots of questions to answer. But it's clear both the public and these communities want these transportation solutions, so the dialogue will continue."

Follow USA TODAY National Writer Marco della Cava: @marcodellacava