Spin

May 26, 2023

TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. On April 12, Pittsburgh City Council held a post agenda and public hearing on the Spin e-scooter pilot , which launched in 2021, to hear how the program is affecting city residents. The contrast in testimony was notable. People who use the scooters love them as a fun and convenient way to get around. But those who depend on sidewalks testified about a much different experience. Alisa Grishman, who lives with multiple sclerosis and uses a power wheelchair, brought a packet of photos documenting times when an e-scooter in the sidewalk has left her stranded. Gabriel McMorland, a blind trans woman who navigates the city with a cane, described the vulnerability of stumbling over scooters on broken sidewalks in the rain. Kevin Joa, a bus operator for PRT, spoke about how e-scooters parked in bus stops make it hard for him to navigate and difficult for riders to board. When public opinion is split, city leadership needs to look at the numbers. What does the data say about how shared e-scooters are benefitting Pittsburgh as a whole? Unfortunately, the only numbers we have are based on reporting from Spin. Rather than scientifically gathering data on ridership, Spin invited its users to take a survey. So, when 48% of riders ticked the box for commuting, we’re left with follow-up questions: Did those riders use a scooter to commute to work once? Every day? (At a cost of nearly $5 per mile or a flat rate of $25 per day, commuting regularly with a Spin scooter would add up. While there’s a discounted Spin Access program for low-income users, the number of users actually taking advantage of the program is miniscule – less than 1%. And as a for-profit company, effectively recruiting those riders is not in Spin’s best interest.) We’re also left to rely on Spin’s own data about the program’s safety. The company depends on users to notify them of an accident, resulting in a rosy picture — just 37 injuries and zero fatalities. When Katelyn Chertik heard Spin present its safety statistics at the post-agenda, she was understandably upset. On Feb. 20 of this year, her brother, Lawrence “Larry” John Chertik III, 35, hit a pothole on a Spin e-scooter, fell into the handlebars, ruptured his spleen and died within a matter of hours. I spoke with Katelyn before writing this, and she talked about how much she worries when she sees people flying down busy streets on scooters, sometimes more than one person at a time, sometimes with kids — never with helmets. And because Spin relies only on user self-reporting to determine the scooters’ safety, we can’t know what other injuries or fatalities have fallen through the cracks. We should also look at how other cities are benefiting from shared e-scooters. Austin reports roughly $1 million in revenue; Chicago , nearly $4.4 million. Here in Pittsburgh, Spin got its permit to operate for just $150. So why is Spin getting so much while Pittsburgh gets back so little? A key reason is that shared e-scooters have been touted as a last-mile mobility solution to get people to and from a bus stop. But when finding mobility solutions, we should start with the people who need them most. For last-mile mobility, that’s folks who have trouble walking — the elderly, the disabled, families with kids. In short, all people who cannot ride a scooter. That said, some pilot supporters feel that getting more cars off the road is worth the effort and expense of solving our e-scooter problems. And it’s true that we could spend time and energy tweaking the program. We could require scooters to be corralled, lease space for those corrals, charge hefty fines to scooter companies for right-of-way obstructions, and tax every scooter ride. We’d fix some of the program’s problems, but likely send for-profit scooter companies elsewhere. Or we could permit residents to buy their own e-scooters and focus government energy on doing the one sure-fire thing we know will make Pittsburgh a better place to live: Improve public transit. Comprehensive public transit service and infrastructure doesn’t just provide critical life lines to work, education, and healthcare for our most vulnerable residents. It gives everyone the real and practical choice to live life without a car. It’s good public transit — not shiny tech mobility partnerships — that will make Pittsburgh a place where new businesses want to come and new people want to live, work, and visit. The good news is that better bus service isn’t complicated. It just takes vision, money, and political will. It’s time for the city and county to work together to build a public transit system the Pittsburgh region can be proud of. Let’s hope our mayor and new county executive are ready to get on board. Barb Warwick is a Pittsburgh City Council member for District 5. Categories:Featured Commentary | Opinion