Okay have you seen them yet? The sudden surge of all those scooters. The San Francisco MTA
impounded dozens of scooters. These scooters run amok, they zip around on the sidewalk and sometimes get dumped right in the middle of it.
San Francisco was the site of an invasion last month. A fleet of app-based electric scooters suddenly arrived on almost every street and sidewalk.
The three companies that operate them attended no hearings and received no permission from city officials before they dumped their products on the street
and unsurprisingly
people hate them.
Obviously they don't belong in sidewalks, but that's where they are.
One wrong turn and I could be on my back. So I don't know.
They shouldn't be going on the sidewalks, and they shouldn't be going so fast.
The companies have cute names like Bird, Lime, and Spin, CEOs like this man: VanderZanden.
Travis was the COO of Lyft,
and then a VP at Uber, a company known for pissing off city officials in the interest of unregulated ride-sharing.
Bird is based in L.A., and, full disclosure, the company sublets office space from Vice.
Anything new tends to feel disruptive and can sometimes be controversial.
How new is it though? Isn't it just kind of a razor scooter with a battery on it?
Well, electric scooter sharing is, you know Bird was the first in the world to actually do that.
Spin is another company in the electric scooter space.
We're kind of known as the company that's been going out there and innovating on the regulatory side
and actually helping cities craft these solutions. And our goal here
in San Francisco is to come to a permit system as soon as we can.
Can you understand how the phrase "innovating on the regulatory side" could, to regulators, be seen as just breaking the law?
I mean, that's one - I guess, putting my lawyer hat on, I think that it's a process.
In April the city attorney issued cease and desist orders to all the scooter companies
Claiming that customers were violating the law by not wearing helmets, blocking sidewalks and access ramps, and not having valid driver's licenses.
Is it more important to be competitive than it is to obey what the cities are telling you to do?
We don't think we were breaking any laws
we're supportive of regulations
and what we've said is, whatever the city of San Francisco comes up with for regulation, Byrd will absolutely comply with that.
It's unclear if the combination of electric scooters and angering municipalities will be a sustainable business model.
Although Bird has rolled out in seven cities, it paid
a $300,000 fine in Santa Monica for operating without a proper business license.
But the company tells us that in San Francisco, Bird scooters have traveled more than a 140,000 miles in 30 days
And they do have a cadre of loyal enthusiasts
Ducks fly together!
Once you get on there, and you start the wind in your hair, it's pretty fun.
Could we potentially see you at like, the next city council meeting,
standing up for Bird and saying no no no, these things belong in our city?
Absolutely, like all the Chads and the Brads of the world, we'll be the Seans and Maxes.
I did send in the email saying you know, keep Bird in San Francisco, trying to do my part electronically.
I've had a lady kind of scream at me saying this is
ruining San Francisco.
Yeah, I usually just get some dirty looks.
You know either there's girls checking you out, or there's you know the angry elderly couple that's saying, "get off my streets."
Lime declined to be interviewed for our story and none of the companies would tell us how many scooters are actually on the streets.
Yesterday the city established a permit that companies can apply for, although
they're not guaranteed to get approval. Bird told us they'll apply as soon as possible.
Meanwhile the enraged citizens of San Francisco are policing them with other means
smearing the scooters with human feces
Cutting their electrical lines and even throwing them in the ocean
People are taking shits on your scooters in San Francisco, how does that make you feel?
Well, I don't love it. I mean I think you know I think of the Birds,
you know they're very important to us, and we think the Birds are out there doing very good for the world.
Do you know better what a city needs for transportation than the city itself does?
No, I don't think we know better than what they know
but I think there's always new innovations happening that maybe cities haven't thought about yet
or we have something new and unique that's never been tried before, and
what's the best way to work with cities to actually pilot that and see if it works
and then figure out how to make sure it's successful when we enter a market.