Fort Lauderdale To Decide Whether To Keep Popular Electric Scooter Rentals
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Will they stay or will they go? Fort Lauderdale is one city still testing the scooter waters.
Yet the electric scooter rental trial run ends next month. And nobody knows what may happen next.
Whether they're whizzing by you or weaving in and around you, they're everywhere in Fort Lauderdale.
"Since November we've had about 230-thousand riders and those rides have covered about 300-thousand miles in and around the city," said Chaz Adams, city spokesperson.
These electric scooters have become a big hit in Fort Lauderdale in the last month.
They go a maximum of 15-miles-per-hour and riders think they're pretty convenient.
"We live right off the avenue, so we ride them all the time. We just hop on them to go to dinner and stuff, we can always find them cuz they're all over here," said rider Lauren Adams.
In two hours, we saw over a dozen people riding them around near Las Olas. Some were riding solo, others doubling up.
"It gets the job done you get from zero to 100 really quick," another rider said.
As with almost every piece of technology, riders say there are a few kinks to work out.
"It would be nice if somebody said oh somebody reported this issue with it, or maybe if they had charging stations so you always know where they're at instead of like searching for them," said rider Riley Boyd.
Since everything is done through an app on your phone, riders say it's hard to get someone from one of the three companies Bird lime or Bolt on the phone when there's a problem.
Riley Boyd says her boyfriend purchased a ride on one of the scooters on Friday, only to find out the gas button didn't work and the bell was broken.
"The gas will sometimes be broken by people or the bell or something and you won't find out until after you paid for it."
And if it's late at night and you want a ride, don't expect to hop on one nearby.
"One night, we were trying to find them and a lot of them were gone."
It's even become a family affair.
Riley's dad only worries about its safety.
"Being in insurance, I wonder about that myself but I haven't seen any accidents," he says.
The city of Fort Lauderdale expects to meet in February to reevaluate the scooters, work on problems and find out what they can do better.
For more information at Fort Lauderdale's ordinance, click here.