Scooter-sharing companies tried to barge into San Francisco and got kicked out. [Decode]

Seriously, did we learn from the mistakes we made with Uber?  For allowing them to do whatever they wanted?  This seems like a swift response by San Francisco to stand up to these new technologies and perhaps a cultural shift.

These scooter and bike services are starting up without anybody's permissions.  Are these motorized bikes even allowed on the sidewalks? What about the fact that people can abandon them all over the town?

DECODE - "Years after Uber and Lyft changed the fabric of San Francisco, city regulators now find themselves in a familiar position: Trying to reel in a new wave of transportation startups that simply showed up and started operating without permission.

This time, it’s scooter-sharing companies, some of which the city kicked out earlier this month and which are now applying for official permits.

The startups — momentarily trendy and eyeing potentially massive growth — are so eager to get back on the streets that some have committed to spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on safety programs, investments and do-gooder initiatives in San Francisco alone.

Competition is fierce among the dozen applicants. San Francisco is only granting up to five scooter-sharing permits, covering a total of 1,250 scooters for a six-month pilot. The city could decide which companies, including Bird, Lime, Skip and even Uber and Lyft, will be allowed to operate — and how many scooters each could manage — as early as next week."

https://www.recode.net/2018/6/26/17490378/scooter-sharing-companies-san-francisco-legal-permits