Shared Micromobility in Austin

Scooters are a necessary addition to our city. Austin is in dire straits with regards to its transportation infrastructure and we NEED alternative mobility options like bike and scooter rentals, carshare programs and any other solutions that keep people from getting in their cars. The scooters are a positive move in that direction but there are legitimate concerns about safety (for both the riders and pedestrians) and the littering of our sidewalks.

The larger safety issue has less to do with the scooters than it does with riders. The vast majority of riders that I have encountered are reckless, inconsiderate and senseless. Any technology can be dangerous if the user is not respectfully engaged with it (texting and driving). This is going to be the biggest challenge for the scooter companies and the city to tackle. How do you monitor user behavior and enforce the rules? Seems impossible. I have been nearly run over dozens of times on the sidewalks, I have witnessed people scootering in bike lanes going the opposite direction on one-way streets like Lavaca, I see two people (sometimes an adult and a child) on a scooter almost every day that I venture out walking.

The dockless issue also need addressing. I don't see a future where dockless is a sustainable option. Our city sidewalks are an absolute mess. Aesthetically they are an unattractive, cluttered junk heap and that only serves to encourage more of the type of behavior that created it. Riders and scooter vendors are going to have to make a sacrifice that results in a docks-only scenario. This would mean that riders might have to walk 6 blocks to get a scooter and vendors would need to use geofencing to require that scooters be docked before terminating the rentals. This might likely lead to less ridership but I can't see a solution to the "SClitter" problem that doesn't include mandatory docking.

Beyond that, law enforcement needs to crack down on user violations (good luck) and the city needs to pressure the scooter companies to take ownership of these problems. The city also should demand infrastructure improvement contributions from these companies. Don't get me wrong, I think the scooters are a necessity and I am glad that we have them as a mobility option. I want this to work but it's a tall order. Banning the scooters is a regressive option that only sets the city back in their pursuit of the Mobility Solutions Initiative.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment but I don't see how you will be able to take these from comments to actionable items without a further surveys. Personally, I don't think the above etiquette flyer will do any good. It's cute but it's not legible from a distance I question anyone reading, except those providing feedback on this thread. Very very few people wear a helmet and I see two on scooters all the time. Underage children and even parents with their underage children riding double. The scooters are also all over the place, including parkland, sidewalks, ADA ramps, etc. I just re-read 1-6 above, it's a bit laughable as I see those rules broken multiple times a day.

I'd like to see Austin have rules with true meaning. Maybe Austin should ask each company to provide funds for Austin to hire a scooter/bike police force that will identify and ticket those not obeying the rules.

Is this what our city is looking toward to solve mobility issues? Scooters? How long will Austin continue to stick its head in the sand and willfully ignore that we need solid, workable, fundamental change in how traffic (automotive and pedestrian) is handled. The city must have a plan! The Mopac expansion is a joke, and this scooter "solution" is a farce. We need public transportation. Period. Why waste even one minute on the scooter "issue"? Get them out of Austin and focus on a REAL plan for public transportation.

Can anyone please explain why our City Council has allowed and continues to encourage the expansion of dockless scooters? It just boggles the mind that anyone would want to encourage this metal detritus within our city.

Are there significant sums of money flowing into the city coffers in exchange for allowing these dangerous (to riders & public) scooters? If so, we do not seem to be spending those big bucks on establishing, communicating or enforcing safety regulations.

Abandoned scooters are not just an eyesore, they also create accessibility difficulties for folks with mobility impairments.

As a downtown resident who walks frequently, our sidewalks and trails were not designed for sharing our bodies with motorized machines.

Why don’t we, as a city, emulate other large cities like Seattle who are trying to keep these scooter sharing companies out until they can modify laws and roads to make them safer?

There are far too many naysayers when new technology emerges. I believe scooters are an innovative solution to our growing traffic problem. Plan cities for people, not cars. I no longer drive downtown to work because I can scooter, keeping one less car on the road. I use a helmet. I use bike lanes. I park at a bike rack. And although I have had one wipeout, we can still all agree that more people are injured, and to a graver degree, due to cars.

Will Bird recommit to donating a dollar per rental or a million dollars for cities to expand bike lanes as they initially promised?

I work downtown, and in general scooters are a nuisance. More and more show up daily as multiple companies are vying for the same customers. I feel like they should be used exclusively on the street as it's a motorized vehicle. The sidewalk should be used for pedestrians. They are an eyesore. They take up a large portion of the sidewalk. It's essentially garbage, where people leave them wherever. They block handicap accessible ramps lots of times. People drive them up into parking garages, where they just stay for days and days. They are turning into throwaway items as they aren't durable enough to last very long. The latest figure I heard was that they last an average of 28 days, where they need to last about 3 months to make it profitable for these companies. That is just going to lead to massive amounts of garbage as month after month these scooters break down. It's not worth whatever they gain.

The scooters are a profound juxtaposition on our central streets in contrast to our mobility challenged. What are our priorities for niche technology? Is it to expedite foot traffic for those who can easily get around, already unassisted? To solve real issues? Or, to embrace new ideas for the sake of novelty? Can the taxes for the scooters at least go toward sidewalks and sidewalk repairs for those with strollers, wheelchairs, or anyone differently abled? On a side note, it's also difficult to see both our homelessness and toppled scooters. Curious. There has got to be a better way.

These scooters MUST have a home. They are dangerous for residents with limited mobility due to their constant obstruction of sidewalks. They are unsightly and pose a threat to riders and those around them. The reasonable approach is to install safe docking stations, people will never take the care to park them safely unless it is required.

These scooters are too dangerous. How many more head injuries or deaths is too many? They are also being thrown into Lady Bird Lake polluting the water. Finally, they are an eyesore and are just dumped anywhere. I have seen them laying in a neighbor's yard and on sidewalks that would block wheelchairs and we have a blind neighbor that doesn't need new obstacles to contend with. Also, people need more exercise not less.
The same goes for the bicycles and people are not using helmets on either.
San Marcos has banned them so I think Austin can do the same.

I BELIEVE THE DOCKLESS SCOOTERS ARE DANGEROUS TO RIDER AND PUBLIC. THEY ARE ABANDONED ALL OVER THE CITY, ACROSS SIDEWALKS, ON LAWNS ETC. THEY NEED TO BE OUTLAWED FROM AUSTIN SIDEWALKS AND STREETS. BICYCLES ARE OK.