Another company is joining the crowded electric scooter scene in Charlotte
Another company is joining Charlotte’s electric scooter craze.
You may remember the company Spin as a wave of hundreds of dockless bikes appeared on Charlotte streets in November 2017. Spin, with its orange GPS-enabled bicycles, started with about 500 bikes in Charlotte, but as of this week, the company’s now operating only electric scooters here.
Spin spokeswoman Ariella Steinhorn said the company noticed the heightened demand for scooters and is “focusing exclusively” on the popular new vehicles.
Spin discontinued its dockless bike program in Charlotte last month.
The numbers bear out the scooter trend Spin mentioned: Last month, Charlotteans took e-scooters for about 120,000 rides, which is an average of nearly 3,900 per day, according to a report from the city.
Steinhorn said that Spin, which was bought by Ford last month, is starting with 100 scooters in Charlotte. Spin is deploying the electric vehicles locally on Tuesday morning.
In recent months, Charlotte City Council has spent hours debating how to regulate electric scooters, which debuted in the city in May without the permission or prior knowledge of City Council. Now, the city’s pilot rules allow 400 e-scooters each from two other existing companies, Bird and Lime.
Steinhorn said that Spin has the permits required from the city to deploy its scooters in Charlotte, and that it worked with the city to help determine placements of its e-scooters. Initially they’re just in uptown and South End, but locations could extend depending on demand, she added.
City Council, hesitant to consider stringent regulations for e-scooters, is considering additional rules that would allow for even more e-scooters in 2019.
For instance, one proposed rule would be to eliminate the e-scooter caps entirely and let companies decide how many of the electric vehicles to provide.
Spin e-scooters cost $1 to unlock, and 15 cents for every additional minute. After adding their payment information on the Spin app, riders can scan the QR code to unlock the scooter before they begin their ride. On the app, riders can also rate how they found the scooter parked (thumbs up or thumbs down.)
Though dockless bikes have been in Charlotte longer than scooters, scooters months ago overtook bikes as the preferred non-automobile ride-share of choice.
By July, Charlotte commuters had ridden e-scooters more than 174,000 times, according to the Charlotte Department of Transportation, compared with roughly 173,264 dockless bike rides. That’s despite the fact that bikes were available for nine months in Charlotte, versus less than three for the scooters. There also were almost twice as many bikes available at the time.
