SF approves as many as 10,000 e-scooters to hit the streets

Scoot is one of four e-scooter companies that received permits to operate in San Francisco, beginning Oct. 15, 2019. The permits will allow each company to operate an initial 1,000 scooters in the city, with the possibility of ramping that figure to 2,500 e-scooters per company. The initial rollout of e-scooters led to several problems and complaints from residents and workers in San Francisco. Scroll through the slideshow to see how e-scooters were welcomed to the city back in March 2018. less Scoot is one of four e-scooter companies that received permits to operate in San Francisco, beginning Oct. 15, 2019. The permits will allow each company to operate an initial 1,000 scooters in the city, with ... more Photo: Scoot Photo: Scoot Image 1 of / 35 Caption Close SF approves as many as 10,000 e-scooters to hit the streets 1 / 35 Back to Gallery

Get ready for more e-scooters on the streets of San Francisco.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency approved four companies for operating scooters within the city — Jump, Lime, Scoot and Spin — and each will be allowed to bring in an initial 1,000 scooters within the city starting Oct. 15.

The companies will be given a yearlong permit, and depending on how those companies perform, the limit could increase to 2,500 scooters per operator, for a total of 10,000 e-scooters, should all the companies decide to increase its offerings.

A total of 11 companies were vying for spots, but just four companies stood out during the city's rigorous vetting process. In its applications, the companies had to score over a 2.0 in eight different categories, covering everything from safety and device standards to hiring and labor.

SFMTA set the limit at four companies, stating it felt that having more than that running in the city "risks over-crowding in core [neighborhoods]" with "diluted service in outer neighborhoods," according to a presentation on the selected companies.

To account for that overcrowding risk, SFMTA set a 40 percent cap of e-scooters in the Financial District and SOMA.

The four scooter operators will have to agree to a number of conditions set by the city, including lock devices on each scooter, a bike rack fee — SFMTA said it will have to install a number of additional bike racks to accommodate the increased number of scooters — low-income plans, and user/operator accountability for those riding on the sidewalk and poor parking. All the companies also pledged to work with W-2 workers, both full- and part-time, with benefits, SFMTA stated, and will not work with "gig" workers.

After a failed rollout that saw hundreds of scooters suddenly flood the streets of San Francisco in March 2018, the e-scooter pilot program SFMTA later launched set a limit to how many scooters could exist on city streets, The Chronicle reported last year in October.

The city decided to have only Scoot and Skip operate 625 scooters each within the city initially, issuing permits that ran for a year beginning October 2018, and eventually increased that number to a total of 2,000 scooters available for rent from the two companies.

Noticeably, Skip did not earn a permit for the upcoming year despite participating in the city's pilot program. In its rejection letter to Skip, SFMTA wrote that the permit was denied "because [Skip] received an average score below the required threshold of 2 on Section A of the application, and therefore was disqualified from further evaluation," according to TechCrunch.

Dianne de Guzman is a Digital Senior Editor at SFGATE. Email: dianne.deguzman@sfgate.com | Twitter: @diannedeguzman