Electric scooters return to Tacoma streets soon. They’ll look a bit different
Hundreds of motorized Razor scooters will appear on Tacoma streets starting May 25.
The 400 scooters will be ready for public use as part of the City of Tacoma’s micromobility program, which makes a fleet of small, low-speed vehicles such as bikes or scooters available to the public. A large number of the scooters will have seats and baskets to carry items.
Each scooter has a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour and can be rented through the Razor Share app. The scooters cost $1 to unlock and 37 cents per minute to ride.
Razor offers half-price rides for people who participate in or qualify for any local, state, or federally administered assistance program. Razor also offers cash and “text to ride” options for people without smartphones.
Scooters can be ridden on sidewalks and paved trails, within bicycle lanes and on roads with a speed limit of less than or equal to 25 miles per hour. Riders must submit a form of identification when they register to show they are 18 years or older.
The Los Angeles-based Razor plans to increase its fleet to 750 scooters in Tacoma in the future, but Brandon Cheung, senior manager of government relations with Razor, said the company wants to gauge ridership demand first.
Tacoma is the first city in Washington state to deploy its Razor Share Scooter program.
“We were very thrilled to be the only operator picked for the Tacoma program,” Cheung said.
This isn’t Tacoma’s first rodeo with motorized scooters.
In 2018, the city allowed two companies, Bird and Lime, to operate electric scooters and bikes temporarily.
During the pilot, there were 86,000 unique users that took more than 346,000 trips, traveling more than 430,000 miles.
Last year, the city opened a competitive bid process. Five companies submitted applications, and Razor won the bid.
The one-year contract ends May 24, 2022 and costs Razor $66,250. The city required Razor to provide $10,000 to be held in escrow to use for any property damage, which Razor is responsible for replenishing.
“We really were looking for a company that was focused on property damage prevention,” said Liz Kaster, senior planner and active transportation coordinator for the city.
The News Tribune asked about other concerns that came up during the pilot program, including skid marks, scooters left in the middle of sidewalks and some scooters ending up in Commencement Bay.
The scooters are less agile, with the tires larger and thicker than other brands, and Cheung said he doesn’t see skid marks happen often with them. They’re also the heaviest motorized scooters in the industry, Cheung added, making it difficult to turn them into projectiles.
“It just doesn’t really happen with our scooters because it’s very difficult to lift them up,” he said.
That said, Cheung said that if scooters end up places they’re not supposed to be, Razor’s Asset Recovery Team can track them with GPS. If a person tries to hide a scooter, an alarm can sound to help the company recover the scooter.
Razor also has “geofencing” capabilities — which can prevent a scooter from operating, or drastically lower its speed, if a driver takes it somewhere it’s not supposed to go.
Parts of Tacoma with high pedestrian use, including parts of downtown and along Ruston Way, have been designating “Slow Speed Zones” where a scooter’s speed will be limited to 8 miles per hour.
Each scooter has a kickstand, but riders are asked not to leave them in places that make them hard to maneuver around.
The city is creating scooter parking spots as part of a pilot program along Ruston Way. Riders can look for the green and white “P” in the Razor Share app.
Required scooter parking spaces are being created at Point Defiance Park, located at the Wilson Way Bridge, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium main entrance, and at the Vashon ferry dock next to the Pierce Transit bus shelter. Riders will continue to pay per minute until the scooter is parked in a designated space.
Razor’s contract does not include bikes, but the city is open to considering a bike share plan in the future.
