Pictured Above: Though guidelines have been implemented, the Scooter Share program has not come without challenges for the city.
Annalise Anderson | The Crow’s Nest
By Annalise Anderson
The City of St. Petersburg’s Scooter Share program brought motorized rideshare scooters to downtown and has provided more than 60,000 rides since its initiation in October.
After studying rideshare scooter usage in other cities, St. Petersburg launched the 18-month pilot program with guidelines in place, like scooter corrals, speed limits, age requirements and prohibited riding on sidewalks.
Cheryl Stacks, transportation manager for the City of St. Petersburg, said that the program upholds many of the city’s efforts and is a useful resource for the downtown community.
“The motorized scooters have provided an added mobility option to our St. Pete residents and visitors,” Stacks said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “They can be used to help replace car trips and support our sustainability and parking management; and they support our economic development efforts… We see scooters as a means for people to extend their trips within the greater downtown core to have opportunities to visit our great local shops in the adjacent business districts”
However, the scooters have not come without obstacles.
According to Yolanda Fernandez, community awareness manager for the St. Petersburg Police Department, SPPD has reported three incidents involving the scooters: one in downtown when a scooter rider struck a vehicle leaving a parking garage; the second when a scooter rider struck a pedestrian on the Pinellas County Trail; the third when a scooter rider struck a parking enforcement vehicle.
Stacks said that the city’s transportation department has “not seen a need to make any regulatory changes.” Since the program launched, the city’s only change has been the application of larger ID numbers on scooters for easier rider identification when riding or parking problems arise.
“Anytime you add a new program like this, there’s always a bit of a learning curve for people to adjust to the changes needed, but by and large, we’re seeing most scooter users obeying the stricter rules the city has put in place to keep the scooter operations conducive to the St. Pete culture,” Stacks said.
Fernandez confirmed that SPPD has seen recent improvement in safe scooter usage.
“A great deal of effort was put forth to find a balance overseeing this new program,” Fernandez said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “With the initial rollout, there were a number of growing pains for the first few weeks… The complaints have substantially subsided over the past 4-weeks as riders learn and abide by the rules and state law.”
In addition to SPPD officers monitoring scooter riders, the city has created videos to remind residents of scooter laws and to better promote safe riding.
Chelsea Dinon, a USF St. Petersburg biology alumna, feels opposition toward the scooters.
“I don’t think they’re widely useful. Of all the things they could have spent money on, this was probably a waste,” Dinon said. “Personally, I wouldn’t use them because of safety concerns. I’d rather bike or walk when downtown – or Uber if that’s not possible. I think the idea is great, but many roads in St. Pete don’t seem scooter-friendly, so I’d be concerned about using them in general.”
Matt Smith, a USF St. Petersburg marketing alumnus, suffered a concussion after falling from a scooter while intoxicated. He believes the scooters are too fast and difficult to control, and that they pose a threat to intoxicated riders. He said that the city should find a way to make helmets mandatory for scooter riders.
Stacks said that the city is beginning a study with researchers at USF Tampa to assess the Scooter Share program and indicators that may help identify whether the scooters are “more risky” than other modes of transportation. The city will report results of the study at the end of the program’s 18-month period.
