Motorized scooters are zipping around Dallas. Is Fort Worth next?

Motorized scooters, either an annoyance or a revolution to transit, have come to Dallas and their numbers are growing.

Bird, Lime and now Razor operate dockless scooters in Dallas with the number totaling about 6,000, according to the city. Lime and Vbikes also operate bikes.

Could Fort Worth be next?

Fort Worth doesn’t allow dockless bikes or scooters, said Jeremy Williams, a senior city planner, because the city lacks a procedure for permitting them.

Garland-based Vbikes popped into Fort Worth briefly in June 2017, but without a permit, the bikes weren’t legally allowed to operate in the city.

In December, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Commission, which advises the city council and manager on issues regarding bicycles and pedestrians, heard presentations on dockless bikes, with proponents saying the bikes would supplement BCylce, the city’s docked bike share program, and fill gaps in public transportation.

But both dockless bike and scooter share has come with headaches, from being dumped in random places to major safety concerns, that Fort Worth officials want to avoid.

“Fort Worth is all about innovation and technology, however I am well aware that with this technology comes significant challenges that must be addressed as we consider dockless bike and scooter operations,” Mayor Betsy Price said. “The safety of our citizens and visitors is paramount, as well as the look and feel of our city.”

In Dallas, a man died in September after an apparent electric scooter crash, and in Austin a woman was hurt when she crashed on Capitol grounds in August.

Though scooters haven’t shown up on Fort Worth streets yet, residents may be split on their usefulness.

Miguel Vasquez, a former Dallas resident who recently moved to Fort Worth, said the scooters are fun, fast and would make getting around downtown easier. But safety should be a priority, he said.

“Maybe they should only be for people over 18,” he said, adding that requiring helmets should also be considered “just to be on the safer side.”

Some scooters, like Razor’s model, can reach about 15 mph.

Matt McGowan, a downtown resident, said he wouldn’t oppose dockless scooters, but probably wouldn’t use them himself.

“If I’m going somewhere around town and I can walk, I’ll just walk,” he said.

McGowan said downtown valets and tourists may use them more often.

To help answer the question of whether dockless vehicles are right for Fort Worth, the pedestrian and bike commission created a four-member committee to explore the topic, Williams said. Scooters were added to the the discussion once they started showing up in Dallas. A report with recommendations is expected sometime in 2019, but Williams said the time frame remains uncertain.

Dallas passed an ordinance allowing dockless vehicles in June and has since seen growth in the market. A pilot program for scooters will end Dec. 27, but the city could make them permanent, said Corbin Rubinson, a Dallas city spokesman.

Meanwhile, Fort Worth’s docked bike share program, BCycle, operated by Fort Worth Bike Sharing, a non-profit entity created by the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, has 350 bikes and 46 stations. Almost 1 million miles have been logged on the bikes between the program’s launch in 2013 through 2017.

This story was originally published October 9, 2018 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Motorized scooters are zipping around Dallas. Is Fort Worth next?."