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Electric scooters coming to Baton Rouge, but with some strict rules

5 years 2 months 2 weeks ago Tuesday, January 08 2019 Jan 8, 2019 January 08, 2019 6:29 PM January 08, 2019 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - If you can't ride a bike, don't have a car or just want to get somewhere faster without walking, the electric scooter could be your new best friend. But there are some hurdles to clear before they're readily available to rent in Baton Rouge.

Last month a few Bird scooters popped up downtown without approval from the city.

"I understand that to have this new form of transportation movement to get around downtown is a good thing, it just needs to be regulated," said Davis Rhorer with the Downtown Development District.

Rhorer says those regulations would include confining the scooters to roads and keeping them off sidewalks, which has been a problem in cities nationwide.

"If you've seen in some other cities, where sometimes they're just laying out in the sidewalk and blocking pedestrian traffic or wheelchair accessibility and things like that so there needs to be some order in where they're located," he said.

Rhorer says the company has promised not to re-enter the city until it agrees to these restrictions.

"They're interested in Baton Rouge, but they understand that Baton Rouge needs to work on some regulations before we allow it."

And it turns out Bird is not the only company competing to be in the capital city, the city is currently evaluating two other scooter-share businesses as well.

"That will be part of the regulations, to see what the city would like to do. And the mayor's office is involved and several council members, and obviously public works, is very involved in this."

If regulations are agreed upon, we could see scooters downtown as early as spring.

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