As scooter use increases, Pittsburgh officials remind people about 'common sense'

Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus has a simple message for people using electric scooters in the city: “You have to use common sense, for God’s sake. Please help us help you.”

“You can not ride them through the Liberty Tunnels. You can’t go on the Liberty Bridge with them,” Kraus said, referencing places where the scooters have been spotted even though they’re not allowed.

Kaus said he has also witnessed people using the scooters while carrying babies.

Kraus and other city officials are well aware of complaints about the scooters, which debuted in July as another means for people to get around the city. Council took up the issue Wednesday and talked about the scooters with Karina Ricks, the city’s director of mobility and infrastructure. They advanced legislation that formalizes traffic regulations for the scooters and approves the no-cost agreement with Skinny Labs Inc. for the pilot program.

In two months, 156,000 trips have been made on the scooters, logging 228,000 miles around the city, with an average of 2,800 trips per day, Ricks said.

“Common sense is required,” Ricks said.

Riders also need to follow traffic laws, Councilwoman Deb Gross said.

“You have to stop at red lights. You have to stop at stop signs. No sidewalks,” she said.

Skinny Labs, which is branded Spin in Pittsburgh, has 1,000 electric scooters in the city, 20% of which are in low-income zones.

The scooters are part of the city’s Move PGH program aimed to provide more transportation options for residents who don’t have cars or who need a way to get from a bus or light rail stop to their homes.

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They’re not allowed on sidewalks or on roads with speed limits greater than 25 mph, or in areas like East Carson Street on the South Side or Bigelow Boulevard. When a scooter reaches a place where it is not allowed, it will automatically shut off, Ricks said.

If riders end their trip at a parking corral or one of the 17 Spin hubs across the city, they receive a 50 cent discount.

The company has 38 employees in Pittsburgh and uses eight vans to pick up and place the scooters around the city.

There have been 800 complaints logged with Spin or the city’s 311 program and Spin has issued nearly 500 citations for people who are riding or parking the scooters where they shouldn’t be, Ricks and the company said.

There are a slew of photos shared on social media of scooters blocking sidewalks, in handicapped parking spaces or otherwise being where they shouldn’t be, including video of a rider going through the Liberty Tunnel that was referenced by Kraus.

People need to help the city “coach and educate” people about how to use the scooters properly, Ricks said.

This means dialing 311 or contacting Spin through its app to report scofflaws, Ricks said.

Spin has three hours to move an improperly parked scoots and has thus far been exceeding that requirement, she said. But people aren’t reporting issues enough, Ricks said.

“Take a picture. Get the number,” she said, referring to the number on each scooter that identifies it and can tie it to its last user.

Pittsburgh Public Safety officials are monitoring scooter complaints and Ricks told council she could try to get data about crashes from other cities using the scooters.

“We and Spin take these conversations with great gravity,” Ricks said.

It’s also important for the city to provide residents who don’t have cars with better options of getting around, she said.

She called the trip through the Liberty Tunnel “disturbing” but said “think about the level of desperation someone must have to take (that) trip.”

Councilman Anthony Coghill said he’s concerned about liability issues in the event someone is hurt or killed on a scooter.

“I do fear a lawsuit is in the making,” Coghill said.

He said he’s watched riders using the scooters for joyrides and not as a means of travel.

There’s nothing that prohibits people from using the scooters for fun, Ricks said.

But the city is seeing use patterns that show people are using the scooters for the “last mile” trips for which they’re intended, from bus stops and rail stations to home, Ricks said.