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Coming Tuesday to the streets of San Francisco: a couple thousand electric scooters from Uber and three other companies, about a year-and-a-half after the city banned e-scooters.
Jump, which Uber bought last year for an undisclosed amount, operates on-demand bicycles in the city already. (They’re the red and black ones.) Now it can also deploy electric scooters in many of the same neighborhoods after being granted a permit last month by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency on Friday.
“We’ve already seen JUMP ebikes lead to a meaningful reduction in car trips in San Francisco, and we’re excited to build on that progress with scooters,” said Eddie Chen, general manager for Jump in San Francisco, in a statement.
Uber will start with 500 Jump scooters, which will be joined by those from three other companies that were granted a permit by the SFMTA: Lime, Scoot and Spin. Lime and Spin have permits to launch 500 scooters each, while Scoot will be allowed to roll out 1,000 scooters because of the success of its recent pilot in the area.
Three of the four companies that were granted permits are getting a second chance: Lime, Spin and Bird — which has since bought Scoot — were ordered to cease operations in San Francisco last summer after complaints about the scooters blocking already congested sidewalks or being parked on the streets.
Among the requirements the companies must meet, according to SFMTA documents: track and submit regular reports about problems and complaints, plus how parts are recycled and resold; use workers who are classified as part-time or full-time employees; comply with the city’s environmental policies; be available in disadvantaged communities; and more.
“Over the last year, we have exceeded the SFMTA’s requirements for scooters available in identified low-income neighborhoods,” said Michael Keating, founder and president of Scoot, in an emailed statement. He added that the company “expects to nearly double our workforce in our hometown over the coming year.”
A Spin spokeswoman said the company will be hiring 35 employees initially, and double that in the next few months.
“We’re thrilled to be back in San Francisco today, serving the Bayview and some of the city’s major transit hubs,” said Lime spokesman Joe Arellano. “Right now, we’re focused on a phased and deliberate rollout of scooters up to our initial cap of 500. Our goal is to take it slow and do things the right way — that means working with the community, making sure we provide access to low-income individuals, and ensuring safety is paramount.”
The return of e-scooters to San Francisco comes as the SFMTA board is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a proposal to ban private vehicles on Market Street — a proposal Spin said it is backing.
