Razor e-scooters and e-bikes are ditching Tacoma. We got duped by disruptors and hype | Opinion
By the end of the month, the e-scooters will be gone. Same with the e-bikes.
When the last one is loaded into a truck and hauled away, Tacoma’s dalliance with “micromoblity” will come to an unceremonious end — at least for the time being.
The city of Tacoma announced the end of Razor’s e-scooter and e-bike rental program on Sept. 11, describing it as a call Razor made, and “not a Tacoma-specific decision.”
Attempts to reach representatives with Razor last week were unsuccessful, including through a direct contact provided by a city spokesperson — so what happens from this point forward is anyone’s guess.
What can be said for certain, at least in the immediate term?
E-scooters and e-bikes have been a flop in Tacoma — a well-meaning flop, but a flop nonetheless.
More importantly?
Even if progressive city leaders were trying to do something good and score and easy win — endorse something green, with good photo ops, like they do in big cities like Seattle and Portland — ultimately all they did was squander valuable political capital and erode at least a few people’s faith in the viability of alternative forms of transportation. They were seduced by slick, fast-talking, plastic “start-up” types — the kind of people who call themselves “disruptors” and take pride in it.
I’m sorry. Do I sound cynical and jaded? Do I sound cranky? That’s what happens when big talk and fancy promises don’t deliver.
It’s also precisely what I’m getting at.
Maybe Tacoma officials figured the risk was low — and perhaps it should have been. It didn’t cost money, necessarily. The way these things typically work, e-scooter and e-bike companies pay cities like Tacoma a modest fee for the privilege of setting up shop and calling it a transportation revolution.
Trouble is, e-scooters, in particular, have always felt like a gimmick — and people aren’t stupid. Can e-scooters be a very small part of what we desperately need — a world where driving a car for transportation isn’t the only viable option? Sure, maybe. Mostly, they’re hot air and hype disguised as the future, and that turns people off — good, decent people with difficult lives who want to do the right thing, people in places like Tacoma.
There’s a reason why voters in Paris decided to ban them earlier this year, as have other municipalities around the world. Is anyone surprised that some now question many of the eco-friendly claims that originally buoyed their rise?
How will Tacoma residents the next time policy makers ask them to believe in transformation — or even designated bike lanes and footpaths?
For those who haven’t followed the micromobility blow-by-blow in Tacoma, perhaps a quick refresher is in order.
The flirtation began in 2018, when Tacoma welcomed two micromobility outfits, Bird and Lime, and the upstart companies quickly deployed a fleet of electric scooters and bikes. City officials described it as a temporary pilot program, and a successful one at that. Ridership data touted a total of 86,000 unique users who took more than 346,000 trips and traveled more than 430,000 miles. The rub, which always required the suspension of at least some disbelief, was that these miles equated to distances not traveled by car — a proposition that suggests e-scooter riders are using them for utility, not for the novelty factor or pure recreation.
Then, in 2020, things escalated, with Tacoma’s micromobility courtship evolving into a full-blown relationship. In April, the city opened a competitive bid process hoping to attract a more permanent e-scooter and e-bike vendor. The California-based Razor emerged as the winner, and in May of 2021 the company entered into a year-long deal with the city — allowing it to unleash 400 scooters across the city for short-term rental.
The agreement was extended twice, according to city spokesperson Maria Lee, with the most recent contract originally intended to run through May of next year. Oh! And roughly two months ago, the company added e-bikes to its Tacoma offerings – 40 of them in all.
During the course of Tacoma’s soon-to-be non-existent micromobility program, over 233,081 trips were taken, totaling over 338,205 miles, we’re told — still, via the city’s valiantly maintained micromobility webpage.
They’re numbers that will likely be spun as a smashing success by some, even in light of Razor’s departure, which will probably be painted as a temporary hiccup or bump in the road.
I wish it was that simple.
The thing is, I wholeheartedly support building smarter, better cities — including the need for an array of sustainable transportation options. If anything, that’s what gets me. I’m part of the demographic the movement depends on: a voter who knows what we’re doing isn’t working but is also burdened by the realities and constraints of modern life, like kid drop-offs, bills and a cost of living that means my family is barely scraping by.
I’m a person scared to death by the world we’re leaving our children, a person who wants to be an active part of a real solution, but who also needs a realistic way to contribute. A lot of people are in this boat.
Most feasibly, that would mean electing and supporting smart, progressive leaders capable of effectively tackling the details — so I can focus on raising a family and putting food on the table. That will always be an all-consuming proposition for many in the society we’ve created, and change requires popular support.
When it comes to e-scooters and e-bikes? I suspect I was also like a lot of people. I was willing to roll with it, even when the silliness was blatant — like every time I saw six of them knocked over in a row.
I welcomed the scooters with an open mind, in part because Tacoma’s local progressive leaders — whose job it is to thoughtfully weigh such matters — suggested it was a good idea.
“I think it’s going to change the way we think about getting around,” Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards said during a 2018 City Council meeting, reflecting the optimism of a simpler time when e-scooters were still fresh, fun and new
So egg on my face? Maybe. Buyer’s remorse? I suppose.
I think the stakes might be higher than that, though.
I suspect embracing dumb fads and the sex appeal of next-big-thing thinking sets real progress back — especially when it fizzles.
I’d bet it turns supporters into cynics — faster than most liberals would like to admit.
