Pardon My Scooter

Two Bird scooters parked on Market (Chronicle photo)

Another headline that distinguishes San Francisco from other American cities:

As complaints roll in, San Francisco considers action over wave of motorized scooters

hundreds of motorized stand-up scooters meant to be shared for short rides....appeared suddenly, and since their arrival, they’ve drawn praise from early users and a flood of complaints from people who don’t like one of the slender two-wheelers’ biggest features: They can be parked anywhere.

Three scooter-sharing startups are testing their product on the streets of San Francisco:

Three companies — LimeBike, based in San Mateo; Bird Rides, headquartered in Venice (Los Angeles County); and Spin, located in San Francisco — own the scooters and lease them to people who unlock them with a mobile phone app. For now, all three charge the same rates: a flat $1 fee to unlock the scooter plus 15 cents per minute of use.

The companies scatter the fully charged scooters around the city at locations where they believe they’ll be used. The scooters are popular with people trying to get from BART to work, heading to a meeting a few blocks away, or visiting the city and observing the sights.

Comments:
1) Positive: San Francisco is a good place to test the idea. Thousands of workers take BART, Cal-train, or a bus into the City but must transfer to Muni for the last leg. Compared to Muni's $2.50 adult fare, the scooter rental is a bargain.
2) Positive: Bay Area workers are accustomed to trying new technology and new business models.
3) Negative: Unable to do anything about the homeless, residents and workers are likely redirecting some of their frustration to the scooters parked all over the sidewalks.
4) Negative: This business seems to have limited upside. A new scooter costs around $300, and a regular user would probably buy a foldable version that he can take up to the office. People traveling in groups are unlikely to be frequent customers; neither are people over 50.