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When US companies began leasing adult versions of plastic scooters for young children in 2017, mini-vehicles were a lightly used and often ridiculed way to get around cities. But after five years and a pandemic, shared electric scooters are getting a second appearance and a chance to fix their bad reputation.

Electric scooters can also provide a blueprint for molding technology to our collective needs.

About five years ago, in some US cities, including San Francisco and San Diego, a group of young companies began offering electric scooters that people could rent by the minute using a smartphone app.

Some people popular using scooters for short trips in pedestrian areas of cities. Authorities and other residents, scooter companies intruders with products that invitation to the deserving mow pedestrians or garbage pavements with parked scooters. The scooter response was awful.

But gradually companies began to collaborate with cities to make scooters safer, more reliable and less hated. They’ve also started testing new ideas, including automatic speed limits, which some transportation experts want to see. applied to carsmore.

No new mode of getting around can cure all the world’s transportation woes, and scooters certainly have their downsides. But rental electric scooters may eventually find their way into cities that seek solutions to traffic, pollution, road hazards and the limits of public transport.

And if scooters take hold, it’s because many US cities are doing something they don’t or can’t do with ride-on-demand companies like Uber and Lyft: They’ve effectively regulated them to minimize downsides and maximize public interest.

“Are we still making scooters?” a Bloomberg News title Asked last month. Yes, but different from what we’ve done scooters in the past.

Authorities in many cities responded to complaints by walking to check how and where the scooters were operating. Many cities have limited the number of scooters available, mandating companies to strengthen liability insurance or for scooters to be located in low-income neighborhoods.

In the Los Angeles area, scooters settled non-moving areas Preventing people from using them in crowded areas like the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Chicago among places that require people to lock scooters onto fixed objects like bike racks rather than drop them anywhere. And in New York committed custom strips and parking zones to make it safer for people using bikes and scooters.

Scooter companies have also responded to complaints about faulty or short-lived scooters. Wayne Ting, CEO of scooter and bike rental company Lime, said many rental scooters are the same models people buy for personal use. He said lime is now in its fourth-generation scooters designed to withstand the wear and tear of repeated rentals.

The pandemic has also changed people’s routines and disrupted public transport. Americans, rented and owned electric scooter and bicycles.

Regardless of the changes, not everyone wants a scooter. Some officials including Miamithey said scooters had no justification and banned them, at least temporarily.

On the other hand, some advocates of alternatives to car transportation overreacted To scooters, arguing that restrictions can make them too bulky can use and support the status quo of cars.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the story of scooters in 2022 is that it shows that private tech companies and governments can work together to help an emerging technology serve the public good.

Seleta Reynolds, chief executive of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, said she’s learned lessons from past regulatory mistakes that have allowed the taxi service to stagnate and Uber and Lyft to avoid addressing which roads the taxi service takes. worsened traffic and pollution.

“I’m laying the groundwork here so I can welcome new innovations,” Reynolds said. “The way to do that is to not let them come in and do whatever they want.”

Reynolds said scooter calls to the city’s public complaints hotline have decreased since the new rules went into effect, and restrictions on the number of scooters in parts of the Los Angeles area have not reduced passenger numbers. He said his goal is to ensure that city officials do not block the attractive driving alternatives that Los Angeles needs, and that tech companies address the downsides of their services.

Reynolds said the approach to scooters is a model of how Los Angeles plans to incorporate future transportation technologies, including autonomous vehicles. flying cars.

It is unclear whether scooter rental will become an attractive transportation option or a transportation option for the masses. financially sound job. But they show we may need as many alternatives to private cars as possible to improve transportation, and tighter oversight to ensure the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Before you go …

• Are newer driver assistance technologies making cars safer? Not enough public data make an accurate assessmentmy colleague Cade Metz reported. Still, safety is the biggest selling point for features like Autopilot, the Tesla system that automates certain driving elements like steering and braking.

• The double-edged sword of being online: MIT Technology Review Wrote About the ways LGBTQ people in Malaysia use social media to communicate and defend their rights in a country where same-sex relationships are criminalised. But activists are also exposed to online threats, cyberattacks, government surveillance and prosecutions. (Subscription may be required.)

• Why do I have so many gadget chargers and cables?! The European Union will need phones, tablets, portable speakers and many other electronic devices sold in the 27-nation bloc. use the same type of charger By 2024 my colleague Adam Satariano reported. Laptops will be included in this list by 2026.

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