Scooter ride-share to begin in September
Steve Kozachik was the lone councilperson to vote against the scooter program
TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Shared electric scooters will arrive in downtown Tucson next month.
The long-anticipated debut of the urban solo ride-share program will be available for rent on city streets beginning Thursday, September 12, 2019.
Tucson City Council approved the scooter ride sharing program in July.
The companies providing the scooters Bird and Razor will be permitted to launch up to 750 e-scooters each (1,500 total) across the City during a six-month trial pilot program.
The City of Tucson Transportation Department is hosting an e-scooter pre-launch event on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 (4 p.m. to 6 p.m.) for members of the public to test ride e-scooters free of charge in a safe area free from vehicular traffic. The pre-launch event will be on the southeast corner of the Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street intersection.
The program passed council on a 5-1 vote with that one dissenting vote coming from councilman Steve Kozachik.
He said these scooters are going to not only create clutter but safety issues, referencing an accident in San Diego earlier this year, in which a rider was killed when he crashed into a tree.
Kozachik thinks Tucson should be learning from other areas that didn't like the scooters like Peoria, which parted ways with Bird back in January during their pilot program.
“Let’s look at other jurisdictions they’re not allowing them. The ones that did, don’t want them anymore," said Kozachik. "Let’s just learn from other peoples’ mistakes and just not do this.”
The pilot program will go for six months. And if, at any time, the city thinks it’s not going well, they can end the program early.
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