Photo Submitted by Tracey Belizaire
With one month left in Tallahassee’s e-scooter pilot program, residents have been taking their last few rides around the city to enjoy the popular motorized scooters.
The new, innovative way of transportation was presented to the City of Tallahassee this summer, which led to the start of the three-month pilot project on July 15.
“We were approached by several companies with this new technology and they wanted to come to Tallahassee so we established a three-month pilot program,” Tallahassee Commissioner Jeremy Matlow said.
No more than 1,000 scooters were distributed around the Tallahassee area for residents to utilize during the three-month trial period. The city partnered with five ride-share companies: Lime, Spin, Bird, VeoRide, and Gotcha, which is no longer available.
There are certain locations in town that have geofenced restrictions which prevent electric scooters from entering into select spaces.
Florida A&M, Florida State, Tallahassee Community College and Cascades Park are some of the red zone areas where riders aren’t allowed to enter.
Some scooters, however, wind up going into the off-limit areas but once the GPS is triggered the e-scooters come to a halt.
FSU pre-nursing major RJ Quwairvo said that because of the designated restrictions, he finds the e-scooters inconvenient.
“It kinda sucks. They literally are all over Tallahassee but you can’t bring them onto campus and it seems like a huge inconvenience for someone who’s running late,” Quwairvo said.
Despite the minor difficulties for some, residents are enjoying the advanced way of traveling. The City of Tallahassee encourages citizens to send in feedback to potentially secure the custom of e-scooters throughout the city for an extended program.
“Largely people are having fun on them and are really supportive,” Matlow said. “There are also concerns about parking and safety. We just have to balance both sides of the equation.”
Tashai Smalls, a public relations major at FAMU, finds the e-scooters useful and a great way to do something before an event or appointment.
“They’re cool. It’s a great way to pass time,” Smalls said.
The last day to ride e-scooters in Tallahassee is Oct. 15. Rideshare companies are required to pick up all of their scooters by the end of the day or they’ll be fined, according to talgov.com.