Watching municipalities large and small hash out the legality of electric scooters — and electric scooter sharing programs — can be like watching an accelerated game of ping-pong. Earlier this year, Freddie Holmes at Automotive World noted that a host of cities had warmed to the vehicles after initially resisting allowing their residents to make use of them. This is a global trend — the article notes that the United Kingdom had banned electric scooters outright until July of last year.
But while the overall trend seems to be shifting in favor of electric scooters, some regions that had previously supported the vehicles in question are now stepping back from this. The latest city to do so is Miami. As Engadget’s I. Bonifacic reports, its city commissioners voted overwhelmingly in favor of ending a pilot program allowing certain companies to maintain shared electric scooters across the city.
Alex Díaz de la Portilla, one of the commissioners who voted to end the program, expressed concerns over the number of young adults using the scooters. “This is an accident waiting to happen,” he said.
The vote was decisive in others ways as well — including, as the Miami Herald reported, calling for the immediate removal of the scooters used for the pilot program. In a statement to Engadget, Lyft’s Caroline Samponaro criticized the city commissioners for “putting dozens of workers out of a job the week before Thanksgiving.” As for what this might hold for the future of scooter shares elsewhere in the nation, stay tuned.
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