San Francisco, get ready for thousands of more e-scooters starting next month

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - More e-scooters will soon be rolling through the streets of San Francisco. Starting next month, thousands of more scooters will start popping up around the city.

After a rocky start with electric scooters that were dumped onto San Francisco streets in 2018, San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency is nearing the end of a one-year pilot program which allowed two operators to rent as many as 2,000 scooters.

Now the SFMTA has picked four operators, Lime, Scoot, Spin and Jump to each bring 1,000 scooters to the streets starting in mid-October, doubling the current number allowed.

While that figure is the initial amount, the agency could allow as many as 10,000 scooters to be made available down the road. However, SFMTA will limit where those scooters can be deployed and said operators seldom have their full fleet out on the streets.

Scooter riders said they're a great way to navigate the city, but that right now they can be tough to find at peak hours.

"Price isn't as much a concern as availability," said scooter rider Brandon Paquette. "I own this one because it's hard to find one when you need one."

Cyclists, who frequently share a lane with scooters, said they welcome responsible riders. "You know, I'm all for it," said cyclist Conor Power. "It's a great way to get around the city as long as they're not weaving along the road impacting motorists and cyclists, you know."

Pedestrians said they're okay with more scooters as long as they don't speed on the sidewalks.

San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin has said he thinks too many scooters will be clogging city streets. He plans on introducing a resolution on Tuesday urging the SFMTA to reconsider how many e-scooters could be allowed in the city.