(Photo: Bryn Dearborn)
The City of Portland has granted a permit for a new type of electric vehicle: a scooter with a seat.
According to a Bureau of Transportation statement, two companies — Razor and Shared — have been granted permits as part of the City’s e-scooter pilot program. Between them 725 of these scooters have the right to be deployed on Portland streets as of today.
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“We prioritized accessibility in this second Shared Electric Scooter Pilot Program, and I am pleased to say that both Razor and Shared delivered with these seated e-scooters,” said Transportation Commissioner Chloe Eudaly. “There is still a significant amount of work to be done to achieve equity in transportation, but the addition of seated e-scooters to our local fleet opens up this mode of transport to many more Portlanders.”
PBOT says this move comes in response to feedback from the community that many people didn’t feel comfortable or weren’t able to use the more traditional, stand-up scooters. These new scooters not only have a place to sit, they also have larger and wider tires — which means they’ll also appeal to people who are concerned about hitting potholes/bumps or just tipping over on the existing scooters.
Combined with what’s already on the streets, these new offerings from Razor and Shared bring the total number of permitted scooters to 1,975.
According to Razor’s website, their sit-down scooters have a thumb throttle, rear disc brake, and front and rear lights.
Like the stand-up scooters, these new sit-down versions will be allowed in what we typically refer to as bicycle lanes.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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