Electric scooter rentals will never be new again.
2018 is the year the world will remember as the dawn of the electric scooter.
Sure, some companies electric scooter rental companies launched in 2017, but as we've documented already, urbanism media didn't really start noticing until several months into 2018. News feeds pages were overwhelmed enough by summer that we started to gather electric scooter news into more of a compendium format, lest we have to change the name of the site to Scooterizen.
We weren't the only ones to take drastic measures. Smart Cities Dive also started collecting the news into a map to make some geographic sense of the constantly breaking news. Now CityLab has declared 2018 the "Year of the Scooter" (in addition to a few other things as well).
In 2019, electric scooter rentals will no longer be the only new thing under the sun. Will they be out of fashion entirely, reduced to a footnote in the history of urban mobility? Or will scooters continue scooting into the future?
Also, will we figure out how to post one scooter article at a time?
Those stories aren't for 2018. Here are the last pile that were:
National News
- Winter Is Coming, for Scooters (CityLab, December 1)
- Investor Frenzy for Scooter Startups Cools (Wall Street Journal, December 9)
National Commentary
- The Dockless Revolution: What We're Learning from Shared Micromobility Data (Eno Center for Transportation via YouTube, December 13)
- Are scooters here to stay? Here’s our take (and suggestions for future research) (Mobility Center, December 17)
- DEEP DIVE: Are E-Scooters Unsafe At Any Speed? (Streetsblog USA, December 19)
- The scooter stampede of 2018 is great news for urban transportation (Vox, December 19)
- Electric Scooters: Last Mile Mobility, Thrill Rides, Public Nuisance or Hazard (Forbes, December 24)
- E-scooter sharing start-ups ‘not sustainable’, says scooter maker (Financial Times, December 28)
Local News
- Lyft Becomes Third Company to Offer Dockless Scooters in Arlington (ARL Now, December 3)
- Scooters could fill gap in Chicago for short trips to and from transit, study finds (Chicago Tribune, December 14)
- In the move toward personal mobility devices, D.C.’s poorest are left behind — again (The Washington Post, December 15)
- Lyft announces scooters in San Diego, 1 day after Uber does the same (Fox 5 San Diego, December 20)
- Lyft brings electric scooters to Music City (WSMV, December 20)
- On heels of Uber’s announcement, Lyft lunges into Atlanta’s e-scooter market (Curbed Atlanta, December 21)
- Frisco Flipped Bird Electric Scooters the Bird (Texas Monthly, December 21)
- D.C. Could Have As Many As 16,800 Scooters And E-Bikes On The Roads Next Year (DCist, December 24)
- Ready to roll: OSU awards scooter contract to Spin (Stillwater News Press, December 26)
Scooter Media Brief: Safety, Security, and Business Models Raise Concerns
Recent news has revealed some cracks in the pavement below the speedy wheels of electric scooter share.
Scooter Media Brief: A Fork in the Road for Scooters
A few milestones stick out from the rest of the scooter news from January 2019.
Scooter Media Brief: Then the CDC Rode In
There's still plenty of electric scooter news in the world.
European Cities Act on Density
The sprawling mass of suburbia has been a disaster for the environment. But now smaller, denser cities herald a renaissance in city living.
Nashville Sets Downtown Parking Maximums
Nashville is the latest city to enact a substantive change to the parking requirements set by the city’s zoning code—doing away with parking minimums and setting parking maximums in the city’s Urban Zoning Overlay.
Houston Development Aims to Create Hyper-Walkable, Micro-Living Neighborhood
The 17-acre Second Ward project has spurred both optimism for a more walkable city and concerns about displacement and gentrification.
Lyft Pulls Micromobility From Los Angeles Area
The company will no longer provide shared bikes and scooters in the L.A. region, citing a ‘lack of longterm commitment’ from cities.
King County Water Treatment Station Set to Open
The facility is part of a plan to protect the Duwamish River from polluted runoff from overflowing sewer pipes.
Proposed Park Yet Another Hurdle for Houston Interstate Expansion
The Interstate 45 widening project, halted by a federal order and opposed by many local officials and organizations, could hit a new snag if White Oak Bayou becomes a city park.
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M-Group
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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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Missoula Redevelopment Agency
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