As the City of Atlanta and public officials continue to solve issues presented by dockless vehicles and e-scooters, another company launched a fleet of vehicles on Wednesday and could very well be the city's first locally based scooter company.
Boaz Bikes, a Dallas, Texas-based micromobility startup that plans to move its headquarters to Atlanta in 2020, has launched its fleet of 100 e-scooters with seats on Atlanta streets. For the rest of October, riders can use the code "FREEATL"to get $5 off their ride. The code can be used multiple times throughout the day or week.
In November, Boaz will launch another 100 scooters, with plans to possibly scale up to 500 vehicles by early 2020.
Founder Emil Nnani said the company, founded in May 2018, has raised $350,000 in crowdfunding to date.
"Our vehicles are inspected daily, we have baskets to help you carry things and ride handsfree," Nnani said. "We are the only (scooters) with turn signals and side mirrors attached to each vehicle to bring peace of mind of riding in the streets."
Boaz Bikes come equipped with exchangeable batteries, meaning vendors can replace batteries on the bikes throughout the day without every having to take them off the road to charge, Nnani said.
"We are owned by the people, promoted by the people and ran by the people," he said. "We want to see our cities looking good."
Atlanta, Nnani said, is Boaz' third official market with vehicles on the road. The scooter/bikes are currently available in Plano, Texas and Detroit, Mich., in addition to Atlanta.
"We plan to launch into two more major cities this year," he said.
The launch of Boaz Bikes in Atlanta comes on the heels of major reform and restriction to the city's dockless scene. Over the summer, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms ordered a nighttime ban on all dockless vehicles within the city limits amid a number of deaths involving scooters. Riders cannot operate dockless bikes and scooters between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. Curbed Atlanta reports the city has the highest number of e-scooter-related fatalities in the nation.
The city also has put a hold on accepting any new permits for dockless vehicles and scooters indefinitely. Boaz Bikes' permit for 200 vehicles in the city was approved prior to the permit freeze.
In September, Bottoms announced a $5 million-plus plan to make safer streets for scooters, e-bikes and other vehicles. Earlier this month, witnesses appeared in front of Georgia lawmakers to discuss the difficulty of imposing statewide regulations on electric scooters, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported.
Tortoise, a Mountain View, Calif.-based startup working with scooter companies to autonomously move their vehicles across a city and reposition themselves without the need of a physical rider, began working out of Peachtree Corners in October.
To date, 15 cities have passed ordinances to regulate e-scooters and other dockless vehicles since they came to the state in 2018. The City of Tucker was the latest to ban scooters from its streets. At least 12 of those municipalities have announced a temporary moratorium on the e-scooters or banned them outright. Not one Georgia county has made moves to regulate e-scooters. Some of the primary concerns about the e-scooters are safety, blocking access and oversaturation.
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