E-scooters will keep zipping around Tallahassee, for at least the next six months. The City Commission has voted to extend its initial pilot program. It would have ended in mid-October, but will now last until March of 2020.
Gotcha, one of the original five companies that signed on to participate in the pilot, has dropped out. City manager Reese Goad says the search for a replacement company shouldn’t be limited to scooters.
"We always envisioned the expansion of the program beyond scooters, if possible. So, the recommendation tonight is to expand the scooter program," Goad said. The city manager added that expansion could include other micromobility devices, like e-bikes:
"We think those (other micromobility devices) hold prominence throughout our community and we belive the scooters could be a gateway to that.”
The Commission is putting out a request for information in hopes of finding a fifth vendor. The existing companies are also being invited by the City to propose additional micromobility devices.
The City reports so far, there have been 60,000 rides across all of the companies, with 28,000 unique riders. The average trip? About 1.4 miles and 18 minutes long.
Officials say a “nominal” number of crashes, injuries and citations have been reported to police.
