San Mateo weighs adoption of new e-scooters

Operating a fleet of 275 pedal and electric bicycles in San Mateo from June to February, Lime reported .96 daily rides per bike, up from the .26 daily rides per bike logged with the city’s previous bicycle-sharing provider Social Bikes, explained Andrea Chow, a city sustainability analyst. With results from a community survey showing more than 78 percent of the more than 740 respondents were either very supportive or somewhat supportive of bicycle-sharing programs in San Mateo, city staff recommended moving forward with a permit process allowing one operator to provide up to 500 pedal and e-bicycles in the city for a year.

But a lack of clarity about the impact electric scooter programs have had on Bay Area cities and questions about their safety and operations drove officials to recommend a continued hiatus on a commercial scooter program in the city. San Mateo councilmembers in November enacted a 90-day temporary ban on scooters, which they voted to extend in February, noted Chow.

Though Kathy Kleinbaum, San Mateo’s assistant city manager, acknowledged e-scooter programs have been implemented in larger cities such as Portland and Santa Monica, she said city staff were hoping to be able to review data on how e-scooter programs have played out in cities more comparable to San Mateo’s size before moving forward with its own fleet.

“We wanted to have a little bit of additional time to evaluate how they’re working in other cities before moving forward,” she said.

Though Commissioner Cliff Robbins largely agreed with the strategies staff outlined for a bicycle-sharing permit program, he joined others in expressing disappointment an avenue by which a fleet of e-scooters could be ushered into the city was not proposed by staff. Given their widespread use in other cities and countries and Lime’s transition to bicycles to scooters, Robbins felt it would behoove the city to start piloting scooters sooner rather than later.

“I don’t want to downplay the safety … . But I’d like to see us moving faster,” he said. “[Scooters seem] to be the way of the world and to have a much higher utilization rate in cities than the bikes.”

Given interest in e-scooter programs and the relative success dockless and electric bicycles had in San Mateo, resident Adam Loraine thought an e-scooter program would be a logical next step for the city and hoped one could be considered in the future. Chow said nearly 58 percent of survey respondents indicated some level of support for an e-scooter pilot program in San Mateo, noting pedestrian safety and sidewalk obstruction were among respondents’ top concerns about the program while a convenient alternative for short trips and a fun way to get around topped the list of e-scooter benefits.

Loraine also noted many have suggested an ongoing effort to update the city’s bicycle master plan include potential use of other transportation alternatives like e-scooters, and said he hoped they could continue to consider multiple modes of transportation for future planning.

“I hope that San Mateo can continue to pursue permit and policy language that could pertain to bikes and scooters,” he said.

Acknowledging the range of challenges that could accompany an e-scooter program, Commissioner Susan Rowinski felt the bicycle-sharing permitting process could help inform what a future e-scooter-sharing pilot could look like. Having seen Lime bicycles scattered all over the city, Rowinski wondered whether the proposed bicycle-sharing regulations — which required an operator to move a bicycle blocking the public right-of-way in residential and high-use areas twice daily — could be tested and improved before e-scooters are introduced in the city.

Rowinski also suggested officials use the data operators provide about the vehicles to inform the public about the number and types of complaints received about them.

Commissioner Rafael Reyes also voiced support for moving faster on an e-scooter program, and noted he would feel more comfortable with a staged pilot for e-scooters or a timeline by which officials will review data from other cities testing e-scooters. He added officials have an opportunity to ask potential operators to provide performance metrics that can help address some of the safety and operational challenges associated with e-scooters, and felt they could capitalize on the developing technology.

“I do want to acknowledge that clearly there have been problems with scooters,” he said. “But I think we may be underestimating how quickly this can move in a favorable direction.”

anna@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106