Spin, a San Francisco-based e-scooter startup, has launched a fleet of scooters in Atlanta.
According to a report from the City of Atlanta's Department of Planning, the startup received permits for 2,000 e-scooters. Last summer, the city saw a swarm of e-scooters flock to the city with the addition of Bird, Lime, Lyft, Jump and Gotcha e-scooters and the recent adoption of an e-scooter ordinance by the City of Atlanta.
Bird, Lime and Lyft have all been issued permits to operate 2,000 scooters within the city limits. In February, Bird and Lime were granted special permits to temporarily add 1,000 scooters to their fleets for the Super Bowl. Jump, a dockless scooter and e-bike company owned by ride-hailing giant Uber, has permits for 1,000 scooters and 1,000 bikes in the city, while up-and-coming startup Gotcha has permits for 250 scooters and 250 bikes.
As of April 1, 10,500 dockless bikes and scooters have been issued permits and 8,000 vehicles have officially launched in the city, according to the planning department. From February to March, the amount of trips taken on dockless bikes and scooters increased by 50,000 to a total of about 360,000 trips.
On average, there are 11,534 trips on dockless vehicles in Atlanta every day. The average trips travel 1 mile, take 15 minutes and cost $3.06. In comparison, the average cost per trip on the city's MARTA system is $2.50.
The concern for safety on dockless bikes and scooters is also on the rise. In February, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control announced it would be conducting a nationwide survey on scooter injuries. According to the city's planning department, four companies reported a total of 88 crashes from February to March that resulted in 34 injuries.
Spin, founded in 2016, has expanded to several cities in the U.S. after Ford Motor Co. bought the company late last year. Prior to the acquisition, the startup had raised $8 million in funding, according to Crunchbase.
