Residents react to appearance of Lime scooters in Marina
Green scooters are popping up in Marina streets and causing a little bit of a stir.
Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado tells KION these scooters, products of the transportation tech company Lime, just got dumped into town without any prior agreement with the city.
Sets of scooters were found along Reservation Road Friday evening, waiting for riders to come and take them.
“I personally like them, it’s fun for us at night to just go ride around CSUMB campus for fun,” said McKenna Bowling, a Seaside resident.
“They provide a lot of transport for people who don’t have cars or who maybe have to travel across campus,” said Christie Beilby, another Seaside resident.
Lime scooters are used through an app people can download on their smartphone, which lets them activate the scooter and ride for a fee. A convenience for some people, but others are concerned about the dangers.
“Today, just right down the street while I was on my way to work today, one of the kids fell and got hit, gashed right here and gashed right here and right here,” said Christopher Wilmot, a Marina resident.
“Other residents are concerned about the poor behaviors of some riders, leaving them in the streets, leaving them in the sidewalks, leaving them in the driveways,” said Bruce Delgado, the mayor of Marina.
Delgado says the city never entered a contract with the company providing the scooters, they simply rolled into town about two weeks ago.
“They should allow it, but they should also come with a helmet, they should be held liable,” said Wilmot.
Delgado says they do not want to just kick Lime scooters out, but he wishes the company had come to the city first.
“It’s a new form of transportation we haven’t seen before, so let’s welcome it, embrace it, make it better, make it safer, make it for responsible as far as the use, and hopefully it’ll stick around for a while,” he said.
KION reached out to Lime for a response to some of the complaints. In an email sent on Nov. 5, a spokesperson says Lime did obtain a business license on Oct. 25. The company is also starting a nationwide public awareness campaign called “Respect the Ride” to encourage safe and responsible use of their scooters.
Lime says they will also be handing out 250,000 free helmets by mail. You can sign up to get one by clicking here.
Delagdo says they are not the first city to have scooters just show up. He did say the city is still working with the company to get their business license.
