Photo: Metro Transportation Planning and Development

New rules force scooter operators off San Diego’s streets

29 August 2022

by Christopher Carey

San Diego’s recent crackdown on e-scooters has resulted in less clutter on pavements but a huge drop in the number of devices available as operators struggle to comply with new regulations.

Less than a quarter of the 8,000 e-scooters allowed under the city’s new rules – which were introduced on 1 August – have hit the streets.

Two of the four companies permitted to operate – Link and Spin – have not deployed any scooters, and last week Lime announced that it will pause operations, saying it could not comply with requirements for scooters to have technology limiting their use on pavements and preventing parking outside of designated zones.

“San Diego is asking for technology that goes above and beyond simple geofencing, which the Lime sidewalk riding detection and geofencing technology can accomplish without issue,” a Lime spokesperson told Cities Today.

“Specifically the new regulations require items that are not workable at scale like automatically slowing down e-scooters on sidewalks.

“We agree with the goal of deterring sidewalk riding but it needs to be done safely and forced speed throttling with current technology comes with significant risks.”

Lime did not specify how its existing detection and geofencing technology works in the city.

Best practices

Before the new regulations took effect, San Diego had seven e-scooter operators, and an average of 6,500 scooters were deployed each day, according to city officials.

Bird is now the only micromobility firm operating in the city, with an average of 1,500 scooters.

Beside the geofencing issues, city officials say some devices have been rejected because they do not have labels listing the key regulations and helping onlookers to identify scooters for complaints.

“All of these [new regulations] are based on feedback received from the public and elected officials, and through looking at the best practices of more than 35 cities nationwide,” Kristy Reeser, Deputy Director of the City of San Diego’s Sustainability and Mobility Department told Cities Today.

“[They] were discussed in public hearings and with the support of Shared Mobility Device (SMD) providers.

“As part of the City’s recent Request for Proposal process, the new requirements were also disseminated to each operator and included in the recently executed contracts.”

Local e-scooter watchdog Safe Walkways has said it’s too soon to tell whether the new regulations will make a big difference, but it supports the new rules which include many of the reforms that the group has sought since scooters arrived in San Diego four years ago.

Image: Metro Transportation Planning and Development

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