In 2019, Nashville outlawed them after an intoxicated rider was killed in a traffic accident. Miami is not the first city to ban motorized scooter sharing. If all goes as planned, Miami will start hearing bids from vendors beginning in January. Once complete, they will send the guidelines to the City Commission for approval. City staffers are in the process of drafting rules for a permanent scooter program. We are hopeful he will stand up to the Commission on behalf of Miami residents and visitors to stop this action."ĭespite the immediate ban, the program is not dead in the water. "We were comforted to hear remarks from Mayor Suarez earlier today in which he referred to scooters as a valuable asset to cities. "We're extremely disappointed in the Commission's hasty and short-sighted action to end the scooter program, taking away a safe and popular transportation option used by thousands of Miami residents daily and putting dozens of workers out of a job the week before Thanksgiving," said Lyft's Vice President of Transit, Bike, and Scooter Policy Caroline Samponaro. "This is an accident waiting to happen."Īnother tipping point is that scooters litter the sidewalks, creating obstacles for pedestrians since there are no docking stations.Ī Lyft executive said she was disappointed in the Commission's decision and hopes Miami Mayor Francis Suarez will overturn the ruling. "On Biscayne Boulevard, at whatever hour of the day, you see kids on these scooters," said Díaz de la Portilla, who led the effort to kill the program. The primary argument against the electric two-wheelers was safety concerns. However, the commissioner said his mind was changed after hearing from residents. "That's it."ĭíaz de la Portilla was the swing vote on the measure and had voted to extend the scooter pilot program in the past. "We're shutting it down," Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla told the Miami Herald. Vendors were given until midnight to deactivate and until 5 pm EST on Friday, November 19, to retrieve their scooters, or the city will impound them. The measure, which became effective immediately, passed the Miami City Commission in a near-unanimous 4-1 vote on Thursday. The city of Miami, Florida has banned electric scooters. The Miami City Commission voted against continuing its pilot program and ordered Lyft to remove all its scooters from Miami streets by the end of the workweek. A hot potato: Scooter-sharing programs-a boon to mass transit or nuisance and safety hazard? That was the question Miami city official had to address in a pocket item Thursday evening.