Dallas
can enjoy the benefits of scooters, but only if we get serious about their
dangers
By
now, most of us have seen the smartphone video of a guy tooling along on
Interstate 35E on an e-scooter. It proves one thing: you can’t outlaw
stupidity.
It
is possible, however, to curtail recklessness, and do it without losing what we
like about scooters as a mode of getting around. That’s why it’s important to
take a deep dive into the data on scooter use before the Dallas City Council
makes a call on whether to extend permission for scooter companies to operate
in Dallas — a review due in November.
Riders
in the downtown area are supposed to stay off of the sidewalks in the central
business district, obey the rules of the road that apply to cars and trucks and
not ride on streets where the speed limit exceeds 35 miles per hour. No doubt
as a motorist or pedestrian, you've dodged riders who have violated all of
these rules.
But
let’s take a look at the ridership data. As expected, e-scooter ridership peaks
on weekdays between 5 and 6 p.m., and during the morning rush hours. This means
that Dallas commuters are using scooters to get to and from work. And that has
had a small positive impact on public transit ridership.
According
to DART, the arrival of scooters has coincided with a 4% increase in train
ridership at the Pearl and St. Paul stations, key stops in the heart of the
central business district. DART thinks the availability of scooters makes it
more enticing for workers to take a train into downtown instead of driving and
parking. And that is consistent with studies in other cities. In
Portland, for example, about one out of three e-scooter trips would have
otherwise been made by private car or ride-hail services, one study concludes.
Still,
user safety, and the safety of pedestrians and drivers around scooters, are
legitimate concerns, though according to some studies scooters are less
dangerous than bicycles. Nationally, a Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention study earlier this year found that the injury rate on scooters was
14.3 per 100,000 trips. Most of the accidents didn’t involve other vehicles and
could be attributed to inexperienced riders without helmets hitting a bump and
losing control. Locally, Baylor Scott & White earlier this year estimated
that scooter injuries have generated more than $1 million in hospital
costs.
Dallas
needs to further study the costs and benefits and not react reflexively to
calls to ban scooters entirely. Transportation Director Michael Rogers, Dallas’
transportation director, recently told the digital newsletter Dallas Innovates
that the city plans to work with SMU and two tech companies to develop
solutions that work for scooter companies, riders and pedestrians. He also told
the newsletter that he might recommend to the council that scooter providers
curtail late-night operating hours, where he says most injury accidents occur,
and explore ways to stop riders from zipping around on crowded city sidewalks.
In
Deep Ellum, business owners and the city have posted signs reminding scooter
riders that cruising on the sidewalk is illegal. The police department is also
increasing citations for people who ride on the sidewalk and will pursue a
public education campaign to discourage illegal and reckless operation.
We
are glad to see the police commit to enforcing existing regulations and urge
the city to continue to work to allow scooter riders to coexist with the rest
of us. Dockless e-scooters operate in more than 100 cities in the United States
and in several foreign countries. With sensible regulation, better and
protected bike lanes, and responsible riders, e-scooters should be part of
Dallas’ transportation options for years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment