ANTA MONICA, Calif. — Black, electric-powered scooters suddenly began appearing on the downtown streets, suburban sidewalks and beachside a few months ago in this urban coastal city.
 |
| Tyler Catudioc, 20, and Kai Wilson, 20, rent a Bird scooter on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 4. |
The dockless shared scooters took Santa Monica by surprise, including the mayor, who says he received a LinkedIn message from Bird chief executive Travis VanderZanden, offering to introduce him to the company’s “exciting new mobility strategy for Santa Monica” — after they landed in town.
“If you’re talking about those scooters that are out there already, there are some legal issues we have to discuss,” Santa Monica Mayor Ted Winterer said he told VanderZanden.
And to reinforce the point, the city filed a criminal complaint of nine counts centered on Bird’s failure to obtain a vendor permit, something the company maintains is applicable to food vendors, not dockless shared electric scooters.
Read The Washington Post story by Noah Smith - “Sudden appearance of electric scooters irks Santa Monica officials.”
No comments:
Post a Comment