The zippy electric scooters that have popped up on street corners and sidewalks across Southern California should be banned in Los Angeles until the city begins issuing permits to the companies providing them, a city councilman said Tuesday.
Councilman Paul Koretz’s motion tells city officials to take “all available measures” to ban the scooters in L.A. and instructs transportation officials to issue cease-and-desist letters to any company offering scooters for hire.
The motorized scooters, provided by companies such as Lime and Bird, have exploded in popularity since their arrival in Southern California last year. They typically cost $1 to rent plus 15 cents per minute, and can be picked up and left anywhere, rather than returned to a rack or station.
If the City Council approved the ban, each scooter company could secure the right to operate in Los Angeles by obtaining a permit, once applications are open. City officials are currently debating the rules that scooter companies would need to follow, and a decision is “a few months away,” Koretz said.
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