Scooting Safely

An increasingly popular way to get around San Francisco is by scooter. This includes shared scooters that riders pick up in one place, use for a fee and then drop off when they’re done. The SFMTA regulates the companies that rent those scooters. We also promote scooter safety for all riders.

In this episode, we discuss scooter safety with Kate Toran, Philip Cranna and Danny Yeung from our Taxis, Access and Mobility Services Division. We also go out with Inspector Peter Woods on safety enforcement patrol. 

And we check in with the Mayor’s Office on Disability to talk about how they work with us on scooter safety.

Transcript

MELISSA CULROSS, HOST: More and more people seem to be riding motorized scooters around San Francisco these days.

MICHAEL: I love the scooters. I’m obsessed with them; I ride ‘em everywhere.

MELISSA: Welcome to Taken with Transportation, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s official podcast. I’m your host Melissa Culross, and in this episode, we’re talking about scooter safety. We begin in Dolores Park where we’re asking people what they think of those motorized scooters that can be seen all over the place.

DOLORES PARK PEOPLE MONTAGE: 
 
CHARMAINE: I like them. I think they’re easier than, like, riding a bike. And if you can pick one up and drop it off somewhere else, that’s really convenient.

MICHAEL: If I’m gonna get from one place to the other, I could walk, which takes a while and saves money. Or you get on one of the scooters, and it’s just super fun.

WHIT: It’s like a very dense population city. So, to me it’s logical that there would be an increase in scooters and other forms of transportation as, like, how humans are adapting to, you know, getting around the city. 

MIKAILAH: I see them around a lot, and sometimes they’re kind of annoying because they’re kind of in my way.

MELISSA: Some people have their own scooters, but you can also rent them…and that’s where the SFMTA comes in. We help make sure rented scooters are used properly and safely. We’ve left Dolores Park and now are discussing scooters with Kate Toran, Director of the agency’s Taxis, Access and Mobility Services Division. We’re chatting on Mission Street near South Van Ness and the SFMTA offices, and Toran tells us rental scooters hit the streets of San Francisco a few years ago and have been pretty popular.

KATE TORAN, DIRECTOR OF THE SFMTA TAXIS, ACCESS AND MOBILIY SERVICES DIVISION: The heyday was before the pandemic. So, there was a lot of trips happening in San Francisco before the pandemic. Of course, the pandemic hit and changed the world. And, um, the trips are now starting to climb back up. 

MELISSA: So how do people rent these scooters?

KATE: There are two scooter companies that they can use their scooters through the app. So, you open your app for Lime or Spin in San Francisco, and then you reserve the device. You hop on. You use it safely. And then you close out the trip through the app. 

MELISSA: And what’s our role?

KATE: We make sure that the scooter companies provide safe devices. We have a lot of requirements, uh, that they provide data to the MTA so that we can track where the trips are happening, so we can track what’s going on out on the streets. We have on-street enforcement. And we also track scooter sidewalk riding. And so, we’re looking to understand where most of the sidewalk riding is occurring so that we can follow up and target bike lanes for those areas. So, there are number of ways that we work to protect public safety. 

MELISSA: Toran goes on to explain how we regulate the scooter share…or rental…companies.

KATE: We have permits. So, they operate under a permit, and the permit has terms and conditions associated with it. So, we have a very structured program that requires certain insurance. The vehicle has to meet the California Vehicle Code requirements. So, uh, we have an adaptive program. So, we wanna make sure scooters are available and usable by the broadest range of the population. And we meet with the scooter companies on a regular basis. We hear about their issues. We problem solve together. 

MELISSA: Toran mentioned our on-street enforcement and keeping sidewalks safe. To learn more about that, we head inside to speak with SFMTA Enforcement and Legal Affairs Manager Philip Cranna. 

PHILIP CRANNA, ENFORCEMENT AND LEGAL AFFAIRS MANAGER: It is our responsibility to make sure that devices are left out of the accessible path of travel, so other sidewalk users can freely pass through the sidewalk without having to either enter the street or also to avoid tripping hazards. It is not legal to ride them on the sidewalk. In addition to being illegal, it’s also very dangerous. As far as parking, um, ideally the best place to park them is in a bicycle rack or a bike rack. Although those aren’t always available. So, it’s also, um, desirable to park it at a meter or a sign pole, provided that it’s not sticking out into the path of travel or, you know, into the curb ramps. That’s another key piece, is not parking on curb ramps because, uh, wheelchair users and seniors and people with disabilities who may not be able to step over a curb or over a device need those ramps to exit the street.

MELISSA: We issue citations for unsafe riding or parking…but Cranna says those don’t go to the scooter riders.

PHILIP: Any citations that we issue are issued directly to the company, themselves, as they are the entity that holds a permit with SFMTA. And SFMTA does not, is not aware of the identity of any of the company’s users. We don’t collect that information. So, I have no idea who is on the device or who left the device behind. So, any citations go directly to the company.

MELISSA: So, Lime or Spin will get the citations that are issued by a team of investigators. Our investigators work seven days a week, and on a sunny afternoon, Investigator Peter Woods lets us join him on the job. We’re walking along the Embarcadero…a very popular spot for scooters.

PETER WOODS, INVESTIGATOR: Since this is the busiest area of the city, it’s quite common to see at least ten to 50 violations on any given day.

MELISSA: The first thing we see is a bunch of scooters that Woods explains have been parked properly.

PETER: So, they’re parked at the bike corral, bike parking device. It’s a metal half-circle where we want them parked. And as they’re within a foot or two on each side of the corral, that’s proper parking, and we wouldn’t cite them.
 
MELISSA: Alright. So, let’s not cite them, and let’s keep going.
 
PETER: Yes.

MELISSA: But just a few minutes later, we come upon a violation.

PETER: So, this is a scooter, and it’s leaning against a tree, and it’s not supposed to be parked here. So, we’re gonna cite it, and inside our app, this is the, the page that we cite it from. So, it says, uh, “device type.” It’s a scooter, so you hit “scooter.” Hit the next button. We get the serial number off the scooter, the street number…we’re at 1 Embarcadero North, the Ferry Building. This field is, uh, where we cited the actual violation, and it’s a tree planter. So, we hit that. Hit “next,’ And this screen is where we take photos of it. You wanna get, like, a wide shot to make it obvious what, what the violation is. And even have some landmarks included so the company knows where it is, to come get it. And then we upload those for the citation. And the next button we hit is “send email,” and that will send an email to the company telling them of the violation. And it will also be the citation in it. And then “finish.” And that’s one citation that we issued right now.

MELISSA: And then, not far away, we see another problem with a scooter.

PETER-5: It’s parked in the public right of way, So, if it was parked on the other side of the pole, that would have been the proper parking. But since it’s not, it’s in the public right of way, and we’re gonna cite it. 

MELISSA: Alright. Let’s do it.

MELISSA: As Philip Cranna told us, riding on the sidewalk is illegal, so Woods keeps an eye out for that.

PETER: This is an area where a lot of riding violations happen, too. And then we’ll take pictures of them riding on the sidewalk and, you know, cite the company, as well for that. And, uh, double riding is a pretty big problem down here, too. Two people will rent one scooter. They’ll both get on it and ride it, and that’s against our rules and against the law. So, double riding anywhere is not allowed.

MELISSA: Double riding is dangerous because scooters are only designed for one person…and with extra people it could be easy to lose balance and fall. Not long after we discuss this, we see something that gets our attention.

PETER: Okay, now here’s one that’s on the sidewalk. Now, they’re riding on the sidewalk, but they’re going to the corral to park them. So, we wouldn’t cite those. Now, if they had continued down the Embarcadero, we would have cited them. Those citations are $500 to the companies.

MELISSA: Woods has been an inspector for years and likes his work.

PETER: I enjoy knowing that people see us respond to these complaints. We do get complimented while we’re conducting enforcement in the field. People will see what we’re doing. They’ll ask why we’re doing it. So, they know that we’re doing work for the city and its citizens. And, uh, you know it’s all safety based. That’s why we’re citing all these scooters and giving the companies warnings to come collect them. It’s to keep people safe and free from, you know, tripping over these scooters or being hit by scooters, you know, on the sidewalks. 

MELISSA: It’s important to note that we do not cite private scooters because we only regulate the shared devices. Also, there are incentives to encourage scooter companies to correct any violations quickly. So, after we say goodbye to Woods, we check in with Danny Yeung to talk about safety compliance and those incentives. He’s the acting permits and administration manager for our Taxis, Access and Mobility Services Division, and he designed the compliance program for the scooter companies.

DANNY YEUNG, TAXIS, ACCESS AND MOBILITY SERVICES DIVISION ACTING PERMITS AND ADMINISTRATION MANAGER: We’ve tried a variety of solutions, and some worked, some didn’t, and over the years, we found out that using a carrot and stick approach of varying degrees worked well. Relying on a stick of just issuing fines didn’t work. Going by a self-service solution where they report has not worked too well. If complaints get funneled through to them directly, they don’t have to respond, or we don’t know. So, now that all reports come in through us, through 311, then we can know, and we can keep track of when the start time is, and when they’ve resolved it. We’ve applied a photographic proof standard where they…their field staff actually uploads a photograph of what they have done to correct the issue. So, we have a “before,” this is the problem, and “after;” the problem is resolved. And then we’ve been able to incentivize them by, based on their performance of how quickly they respond and how often they respond to most of the scooters, we’re willing to waive half or full fine amounts. 

MELISSA: Anyone can report an improperly parked scooter via the city’s 3-1-1 customer service center. Our enforcement inspectors then follow up on those reports or complaints and issue citations based on what they find and whatever else they see while on patrol. But the complaints don’t just come to us. 

DANNY: The same complaint goes to the scooter share companies also at the same time. So, it’s more like a race. If they get there first, or they respond that they have corrected it, then there is no need for our investigators to go out there to issue a citation. That saves staff time significantly that we can then focus on other, more pressing issues.

MELISSA: All of this compliance fine-tuning has had a significant effect on how long it takes for the scooter companies to correct violations and move improperly parked scooters.

DANNY: It’s dramatically improved response times from over six hours, average, to now about 45 minutes, average, response time. That’s a huge time savings. And even before we instituted this program, some of the response times were the next day or a couple days later. 

MELISSA: And Yeung says THAT is what is most important.

DANNY: All we care about at the end is providing safe public access to the sidewalk, more so than collecting the money. Because what do we do with more money when the problem still exists out there on the street. We care more about solving the problem, rather than fining someone out of existence or excessive fines. 

MELISSA: We haven’t done all of this safety work alone. We get help and support from the Mayor’s Office on Disability. Deputy Director Debby Kaplan tells us the office has worked with us on incorporating accessibility technical standards into the scooter program.

DEBORAH KAPLAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR’S OFFICE ON DISABILITY: Many of our people in the Mayor’s Office on Disability are people with disabilities. And we have a lot of direct relationships with people with many different kinds of disabilities in the community who we hear from, especially when things are not going right. I mean, I use, uh, an electric wheelchair, myself, and it’s much better now, but for a while there, it just seemed out of control. And it’s very frustrating to get halfway down the block and you can’t get through because there’s scooters that haven’t been parked properly and are…have just completely blocked your way. And so, we bring that lived experience into planning and anticipating how things are really gonna work in real life. 

MELISSA: Kaplan reiterates the point that keeping the sidewalks safe for everybody is what’s important here. 

DEBBY: I mean, I totally understand that scooters give people a great deal of freedom. Especially the fact that you can rent it, and you don’t have to worry about parking it somewhere. I mean, you can just drop it where you need to stop using it and hopefully park it where it needs to be parked. But then not worry about it. Everybody needs to have that same level of freedom. I mean, I like to ride my electric wheelchair fast sometimes. And I notice older people look at me with fear. And I totally get it because they know that if they fall and break a hip, that could alter their lives in a very dramatic way. So, when you’re having fun and enjoying yourself, think about not taking that away from other people. 

MELISSA: Another important part of our scooter safety work is getting the word out about the program and about safety, in general. Back out on Mission Street, Kate Toran talks about this.

KATE: Because the MTA does not regulate the private devices, we launched a scooter safety campaign trying to get our safety messages out through blog posts, through posters that were displayed around town. They were displayed on the Muni vehicles, uh, with our three golden rules…which is don’t drive too fast; please no double riding; and don’t ride on the sidewalk. We are launching a next phase to continue to get our messages out. And so, we are launching a short video series.

VIDEO CLIP-1: Riding a scooter can be a fun and joyful experience. 

VIDEO CLIP-2: Scooters move much faster than pedestrians, increasing the likelihood of a collision.

MELISSA: Because, at the end of the day, this program will be significantly more effective when everyone knows the rules, regulations and the reasons for them.

KATE: Safety is important to us, overall. And even if we don’t regulate the private devices, it’s important for us to make sure we share our safety messages broadly.

MELISSA: Thank you for joining us on TAKEN WITH TRANSPORTATION. We’re a production of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and you can find the latest episodes at SFMTA.com-slash-Podcast, as well as Apple, Spotify, our YouTube channel or wherever you listen. I’m Melissa Culross. Be well and travel well.