PORTLAND, Ore. — A new survey from the Portland Bureau of Transportation shows 472,069 e-scooter rides in Portland since the pilot program began three months ago.
PBOT sent the survey to nearly 75,000 people and heard back from 4,500 users.
According to the agency, some of the key findings were:
- 30 percent of riders used the scooters to commute to work or a work-related meeting.
- 34 percent of users said they took an e-scooter instead of using a personal car, taxi or ride-sharing app.
- 6 percent of riders even replaced their cars with an e-scooter.
- When it comes to rules of the road, PBOT said 77 percent of people knew they had to wear a helmet while riding the scooters and 51 percent of people knew riding through parks was illegal.
PBOT spokesman John Brady said they plan to survey non-riders about their thoughts on the scooters and look at all the complaints filed since the pilot program began before making a final decision.
"When we have all of that information, we'll decide will scooters become a permanent part of our system and if so, what do we change," said Brady.
Brady said part of the decision-making process is looking at injuries or near injuries, something the most recent survey did not ask about.
Brady said they have 25 confirmed injuries so far but they know the real number is probably much higher.
The agency is working on getting data from state and county health officials to get a more accurate number of scooter-related injuries.