The City of Tampa has teamed up with several vendors to begin rolling out E-Scooters as a new form of transportation.
- New E-Scooter system is available in Downtown Tampa
- Some issues have occurred with riders not returning scooters to parking corrals and scooters having dead batteries
- Tampa Director of Transportation plans to work with vendors to improve process
While riders say that the scooters are quick and easy to use, other people around Tampa have noticed some issues with the scooters.
Many of these scooters are left in the middle of sidewalks rather than being returned to their parking corrals. Others had too low of battery to even turn on.
“It is concerning that that's the behavior we're seeing right off the bat on the part of the users, as well as the operators...” said Jean Duncan, Tampa Director of Transportation.
Duncan says she plans to call in the operators for a refresher on what the conditions were and ask that they maintain those conditions so that riders and other pedestrians can remain safe on the roadways.
Supporters of the program remain optimistic that with time, riders will use the scooters correctly and safely, allowing the program to take off.