This past June, scooter companies Bird and Lime made available two electric scooter options in the city of Dallas. With the scooters, pedestrians and commuters are able to easily move about Dallas, whether it’s to travel between work and home, to run errands through the neighborhood, or to visit various bars within Uptown or Deep Ellum. In the near future, Plano could soon see scooters popping up throughout the city.
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City of Plano’s Director of Special Projects Peter Braster has been in talks with companies Lime and Razor to develop a plan to make electric scooters available to rent in Plano.
“We’re going to talk about the scooters at the next city council meeting on October 22,” Braster says. “It’s a preliminary discussion, which is just a way for us to discuss it with City Council and get their take on it. If they agree with our recommendation to have scooters, then we will move forward with it at our next meeting in November.”
As of now, there is no set date as to when or if the scooters will be available for rental in Plano, however, should the scooter proposal move forward, it shouldn’t take too long for the scooters to start appearing on Plano’s streets.
“Lime already has a permit for bikes,” Braster says, “so that could easily be amended and we could add scooters to that, so I think Lime would arrive first, and then Razor would actually have to apply for a permit.”
Lime bikes, along with the now-removed Ofo bikes, were the subject of controversy, as many Dallas residents noted that the bikes were being left unattended throughout the city, making the roads and walkways appear sloppy and disorganized. Braster insists that this will not be an issue should the scooters be brought to Plano.
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“Unlike the bikes, the scooters need to be recharged,” Braster says. “Every night, the scooters will be picked up, taken to recharge, and then set up in an approved location in the morning. They will be a lot neater and tidier than the bikes are because someone has to come and recharge them.”
Braster adds that people can sign up through Lime to be “juicers” and make extra money by charging some of the scooters in their homes overnight.
If the scooters are brought to Plano, Braster believes that they will heavily be used in Plano’s industrial district, where people can use them to get to and from work. He also hopes that they will be popular in downtown Plano.
“If you have a short commute and there are scooters available to you, our hope is that you take a scooter,” Braster says. “It would be a lot better for the environment, as opposed to adding extra cars to the traffic.”
Braster is set to further discuss the future of scooters in Plano at a meeting with Plano City Council next Monday October 22.
