The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s permitting process for electric scooters is already hitting the skids, with board member Art Torres raising questions about whether the agency went too far in rejecting bids from Lyft and Uber-owned Jump by allegedly downgrading them for bad behavior related to their ride-hailing services.

Torres said Lyft lobbyist Alex Tourk told him the ride-service company initially scored at the top of MTA’s applicant list, but later fell out of contention after the the board authorized staff to consider a company’s full history of doing business with the city.

MTA officials deny there was any rescoring.

Nonetheless, Torres said the only criteria he asked to be considered during the board discussion were the city attorney’s “cease-and-desist orders” issued to Bird, Lime and Spin, which had flooded the streets with scooters before City Hall even had a chance to weigh in on permitting them.

“I don’t recall any discussion by the board of bad behavior not related to cease-and-desist orders,” Torres said Friday.

“If a company related to scooters ... all of a sudden is tainted with past behavior, I don’t think that’s a fair process,” Torres said.

The agency’s chairwoman, Cheryl Brinkman, said it is her understanding that an applicant’s entire history with the city — both good and bad — was to be considered.

“The feeling was that actions speak louder than words,” Brinkman said.

While Lyft and Uber were not involved with dropping hundreds of scooters onto the streets this year, their ride-hailing operations have been in a tug-of-war with the MTA over sharing information about their drivers and operations.

On the other hand, Scoot — which already operates its moped ride share in the city — probably got a boost for its collaborative relationship with the agency.

Whatever the case, it’s not just the ride services that feel they got iced out.

Lime, which was part of the initial scooter scourge, is filing an appeal to its rejection.

MTA spokesman Paul Rose tells us there have been more than 30 sunshine record requests pertaining to the selection process, which probably means there will be more questions and appeals.

MTA sustainable streets director Tom Maguire, who oversaw the scooter scoring, said, “We picked the two companies that met our standards for safety and accountability,” but the scoring was done only after “pretty clear input” from the board.

Mayor London Breed, who raised concerns about the openness of the selection process in a recent letter, so far is staying mum about the outcome.

“She will be working with the MTA and the city attorney to review and understand the MTA’s selection process,” said mayoral spokesman Jeff Cretan.

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