In walkways, in landscaping, on bike paths, in roundabouts, even in the middle of the street: these are just a few places where Councilmember Suzie Price has seen electric scooters dumped in Long Beach.
“It’s just not okay,” said Price, who was joined by Councilmembers Suely Saro and Cindy Allen in a call to study the feasibility of adding a third-party vendor to help scooter operators maintain their vehicles at Tuesday’s council meeting. The item was passed unanimously.
In 2019, the City of Long Beach finalized an ordinance related to the shared-micro-mobility program, which intended to create transportation options that would reduce vehicle traffic congestion, limit pollution and replace short distance trips taken by vehicles. The program became permanent in August 2020, with 12-month contracts with four different operators.
Maintenance of the scooters, Price said, was a concern raised when the City entered into contracts with electric scooter companies.
“We were assured that there would be mechanisms and technology to make sure that this debris isn’t deposited all over the city,” Price said.
Those assurances, Price said, haven’t panned out. The addition of a third-party vendor as a middleman could help scooter operators who, she said, “clearly appear to be overwhelmed.”
Each operator can deploy an initial 500 e-scooters with the potential to increase to 1,000 e-scooters per operator.
Electric scooters—run by Bird, Lime, Razor and VeoRide in the city—operate on a pay-per-minute basis. When riders are finished with them, they often leave the scooters wherever they please, though riders are usually required to take a picture to ensure that the scooter is standing upright.
Operators then hire people to pick up the scooters, charge them and place them back in popular, City-approved drop-zones to be used again.
“I, too, regularly hear from my residents in [District 2], about the issues of having the scooters parked and laying against the right of way,” Allen said, noting concerns about persons with disabilities and people using strollers. “I mean, this is just a real issue.”
Price called scooter pickups a “fundamental” responsibility of scooter operators and a requirement under their contracts with the City.
According to the agenda item, a third-party vendor could help operators with improved sidewalks management and retrial efforts for any future electric scooter agreements.
Councilmember Mary Zendejas said she was a huge supporter of the shared-micro-mobility program for its positive impact on the environment and convenience for residents, but that there was still more work to be done on the program.
“We still have a long way to go on this,” she said.
The next Long Beach City Council meeting will take place Tuesday, Aug. 24 at 5 p.m. in the Civic Chambers, 411 W Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802.