Colorado Springs receives flood of complaints in first two weeks of scooter share program
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- City officials said Wednesday that a lack of knowledge and understanding about how its new electric scooter operation works is likely why more than 140 citizen complaints were filed in the first two weeks.
The total amounts to 20 complaints a day, but officials said that this week -- the third in a yearlong pilot program for the scooters -- daily complaints have dropped to 8, and should continue decreasing as more people become familiar with the operation.
The complaints were filed on the city's "GoCos!" smartphone app, and the city said that most came from a small group of people who expressed concerns about where and how the scooters are parked after use.
For example, the city said that many people assume riders should return the scooters from the same station where they were rented; however, officials explained that scooters can be parked anywhere they don't obstruct vehicle or pedestrian traffic.
That fits the purpose of the program officials said, by allowing the two scooter providers to collect and redistribute the devices or making it easy for someone else to rent them wherever they happen to be.
The city said that the providers are required to respond to a complaint and report to the city on how it was resolved within two hours after receiving it, and officials said they are pleased with how the providers have managed the operation so far.
City Traffic Engineer Todd Frisbie said that the high number of complaints in the first two weeks isn't unusual for a new program, but he is surprised at how popular the scooters have been, with 600 made available by the two providers.
"A lot of that popularity is driven by the nice weather we've had," he said. "We're trying this out for a year, and we selected these providers over others. So we're hoping that things eventually smooth out."
Frisbie also said that there have been several cases of them or vandalism of scooters; in one instance, handlebars were cut off, and in another instance a scooter was found disassembled on someone's porch. The person responsible for that scooter apparently refused to cooperate and was cited by police for vandalism.
Each scooter is equipped with a GPS device allowing it to be tracked easily.
Since the program started, the city said that the providers have updated their apps to provide more information to riders, and programmed scooters to shut down in certain areas such as parking garages and some trails. Scooters already turn off when outside their coverage area.
Collin Bordeaux, of Colorado Springs, said that he understands both sides of the issue.
"I ride scooters myself, sometimes," he said. "Sometimes it's for transportation, other times it's just for fun. Younger people like it for social media. Cars have honked at me to get out of the way. But when I drive, I see some unsafe scooter riding. I think it'll just take time for everyone to get used to. We don't own any of this. We all share it."
The program has most of its shuttle stations downtown and in Old Colorado City; by allowing the scooters to be used across much of the city, the program differs from many other cities -- like Pueblo -- where use is limited to the downtown area.
