Is CHS scooter-able? 🛴

Scooters are no longer just a 90s staple for cruising the neighborhood– they’re becoming an easy public transportation alternative to bikes– especially in areas where there’s not always a designated bike lane.

While the Holy City is working toward making the peninsula more bikeable, via the Charleston Moves’ initiative– People Pedal CHS– what about scooter-able?

Cities like Charlotte, Santa Monica, + Austin are implementing dockless electric scooters as their latest commuting option. In these participating cities, you can find a scooter, pay $1 through an app on your phone (with a valid driver’s license), and get a 30-minute ride.

A few of the companies that are currently capitalizing on the two-wheeled craze include: Spin; Lime, which recently partnered with Uber; +Bird, who, based on whispers we’ve been hearing– may be scooting onto the scene in Charleston next (we've already spotted them around CofC's campus). Additionally, locally-based Gotcha Group, who is the parent company behind Holy Spokes bike-share, is seemingly looking to jump on the trend– only not in CHS… yet.

The upside to renting a dockless electric scooter: you can park it anywhere. But, as it turns out– that’s also the downside.

Denver recently started impounding scooters that had been left strewn along sidewalks, and Nashville sent a cease + desist letter to Bird just two days after they hit the ground– making the company keep scooters off pedestrian rights-of-way until a regulatory framework is put in place.

Most cities have made it clear they want to develop a better system for dockless scooters rather than banning them entirely, but the solution is still a question mark.

Dockless electric scooters could be a great way to increase affordable + convenient public transportation– if properly monitored. But are they even desired?

We asked if y’all would you ride an electric scooter through the city– 73% on Facebook + 75% on Twitter said no.

With the right city/company cooperation, we could see scooters make strides toward a comeback– openly welcomed or not.

Bird scooters at the CofC campus | Photo by the CHStoday team

What do you think– should we stick with rentable scooters + bikes that have specific docking areas (meaning you have to return them) or try dockless transportation that can become part of your daily travel (a.k.a. pick it up near your house + then drop it at the bus stop when you switch transportation)?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

– Nicole