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E-Scooter Sharing in Bend Must Wait

BEND, OR -- Portland tried out electric-scooter sharing last year and officials in that city plan to bring it back this spring. But, Bend City councilors are more hesitant to allow e-scooter sharing companies here.


Jeff Munson, with Commute Options, says he's ridden them several times. He believes e-scooter sharing could be a legitimate transit option for "the last mile" - that distance between where a bus rider is dropped off and their final destination. "They’re fun, they’re easy to park, I’d like to see a program come to Bend, maybe Redmond and other cities." Munson tells KBND News they're another way the city could ease downtown traffic congestion, "There’s questions about how much parking there is downtown and other issues with traffic, and so these e-scooters would make it a lot easier to get around on short trips. And, they’re really inexpensive; we could put e-scooters all around town."

 

During last year's four-month pilot program in Portland, there were reports of scooters being left on sidewalks and blocking rights of way. Munson thinks problems in Portland were overblown, "There’s rumors about scooters thrown in the river, and I really don’t think that was widespread."


Bend's City Council, this week, agreed to postpone allowing e-scooter sharing companies for at least another year, until regulations are developed. Munson says a similar bike-sharing program has been successful at OSU-Cascades, and he's disappointed scooters will have to wait, "I really don’t want to wait another year to roll these out. But, I guess the summer of 2020 might make sense when maybe there are some upgrades and the city is officially ready to roll these out with proper regulations, and that type of thing." He adds, "To be sure that this gets rolled out in the most correct way." Munson says the technology is constantly improving, along with the scooters themselves, so he thinks they'll be even better by the time they hit Bend streets. 

 

Photo courtesy of Commute Options: Executive Director Jeff Munson rides through Bend on a Lime electric scooter, Thursday.

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