Apparently, the tech industry doesn't want us to walk too much.
Austin just landed its latest batch of electric scooters -- this time from Oxnard, Calif.-based OjO Electric. But these scooters won't blend in with the Birds, Limes, JUMPs, Lyfts, Spins and whatever else is already out there.
OjO's sit-down scooters are not for sidewalks. The Vespa-like e-scooters are intended for bike lanes and streets. They go up to 20 MPH, run on 480 volt lithium-ion batteries and can go up to 50 miles on a charge.
The company says they comply with existing city regulations, and already the city has accepted them as a dockless company and allotted up to 100 scooter permits for OjO.
OjO is working with Austin Commuter Scooter, which is a branch of the Austin B-cycle System. And they've set up data-sharing agreements to help optimize the system over time with ACS.
"We are excited to help bring OjO's innovative scooter to market and provide a scooter that current riders and the rest of us can ride comfortably," Elliott McFadden, executive director of Bike Share of Austin, said in a news release. "We think it says a lot about Austin that OjO would decide to make this its first launch market, and we are happy to provide our operational expertise and first rate customer service to make it a success."
The OjO scooters have on-board speakers to tell you about navigation, traffic alerts and geo-fencing, which limits where you take the scooters. It will alert you of docking locations. You can also play music via Bluetooth on the speakers.
Here's the most recent dockless scooter and bicycle data from the City of Austin.
- Bird - 1,000 scooters and 4,000 supplemental scooters
- JUMP - 500 bicycles and 1,500 supplemental bicycles; 500 scooters and 1,500 supplemental scooters
- Lime - 500 scooters and 4,500 supplemental scooters
- Lyft - 500 scooters and 1,000 supplemental scooters
- OjO - 100 scooters
- Spin - 500 scooters
- VeoRide - 350 bicycles
