PORTLAND, Ore. -- As many as 2,500 shareable electric scooters will soon hit Portland streets as early as the end of July.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation on Thursday opened the application process for companies to be part of a four-month long pilot project to determine whether or not the scooters would be a good fit for the city.
"Will they provide a viable transportation option for users? And at the same time can we meet other goals that we have: sidewalk access, safety and will they help contribute for example reducing pollution?" John Brady, PBOT's Director of Communications said.
Once the company is selected, one of the main requirements would be to make sure that 20 percent of the scooters were in the East Portland area every day.
"One of the goals of this pilot is to see if we can serve areas of the city that historically haven't been as well served by transportation options." Brady said.
Like the orange Biketown bikes already in use in Portland, riders would pay to use the scooters for a one way trip. Unlike the bikes though, the scooters would not be docked, meaning they can be left almost anywhere.
Al Fayez, who works downtown, has some concerns about scooters being left everywhere. "Sidewalks are already tight as is. There are already other things that on sidewalks that take up space, if you add just scooters, I don't think that it's going to be a very neat or something that will be friendly to pedestrians."
He's not alone.
When asked on Twitter what users thought about the idea of bringing these scooters to Portland, the responses were not positive.
Riders would not be allowed to ride them on the sidewalks, but would be required to wear a helmet.
Brady says the fee that the city would collect from these scooters will help "administer and evaluate the pilot program."