St. Petersburg has kicked off its first electric scooter program with two vendors.
California-based Razor USA LLC and Chicago-based VeoRide Inc. have placed 350 e-scooters throughout the city. The 18-month-long pilot program is meant to help provide mobility options, generate more consumer spending in the city and evaluate the demand for the technology.
"The city sees this as an economic driver for downtown and will encourage spending like we have found with the Cross Bay Ferry that people take to come here and dine," Evan Mory, transportation and parking management director, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
The city issued a request for proposals in December 2019 for vendors and later reviewed eight different submissions. The city approved the contracts in August.
“We saw things happening in other cities and we decided you know what, let’s take our time. Let’s really try to make sure the right thing other cities have done and wrong things,” St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman said at a launch event. He said the city noticed how other cities with e-scooters have them scattered everywhere.
The cost to unlock e-scooters is $1 and it costs between 33 and 37 cents a minute to ride. In St. Pete, the e-scooters have to be docked at a corral or the user will be charged per minute that it is not correctly docked.
The city's 50 corrals can be found in the greater downtown area and west on Central Avenue. The city plans to have roughly 90 corrals total.
One big difference is that Razor's e-scooters have seats so riders can sit while riding or use the typical stand-up option.
The e-scooters are permitted to be driven on certain trails, bike lanes and on streets where the speed limit doesn't exceed 30 miles per hour. The operating hours are from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Mory said officials in cities like Atlanta noticed safety issues in the late evening with e-scooters and therefore pushed back the operating time, which signaled St. Pete to do the same.
The e-scooters currently aren't allowed at the new St. Pete Pier unless it is on a roadway. There is no sidewalk riding.
Riders must ride with a driver license or photo ID and are encouraged to wear a helmet.
"We've been getting positive feedback. There have been very few complaints; the vast majority said the riders are in compliance," Mory said. The city does have the option to extend the program if it finds it to be successful.
The total number of e-scooters expected to be deployed will eventually be between 600 and 1,500.
St. Pete is preparing to launch more transit options beyond e-scooters. CycleHop will introduce its electric bicycles to the city through its bike share program. Meanwhile, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority will be having a pilot launch of an autonomous vehicle service.
