Scooters Will Improve Traffic, L.A. Councilman Says
*By Jacqueline Corba*
Simple e-scooters may be poised to disrupt the City of Angels, a market over-saturated with vehicles forced to navigate gridlocked commuter traffic.
"We need to look at solutions, and a multi-modal city is a successful city, and that will drive our effort to reduce traffic and get people out of their cars," said Los Angeles City Council Member Joe Buscaino, who represents the 15th District. "A scooter would be helpful in reducing people, and incentivizing people to get out of their cars and into public transportation."
Buscaino is calling for more collaboration among neighboring cities and across the state of California as more locals adopt this burgeoning mode of transport.
"In my district I have a pilot program with Lime, and it's been trending well," Buscaino said.
The Los Angeles Transportation Department [reportedly](https://la.curbed.com/2018/8/22/17769700/los-angeles-scooter-ban-dockless-rules) started issuing cease and desist letters to companies that placed their dockless scooters in certain areas, including parts of downtown L.A., without clear permission.
But Cheddar's Alyssa Julya Smith [spotted a lone Bird](https://twitter.com/IamAlyssaSmith/status/1035612373472575488) Friday on the premises of Los Angeles City Hall.
In neighboring Santa Monica, four scooter start-ups now have permission to operate; Bird, Lime, Lyft, and Uber-owned Jump were selected Thursday for that city's shared mobility pilot program, which starts September 17.
Each of the companies will be allowed 750 vehicles each, bringing a total of 1,000 e-bikes and 2,000 e-scooters to the southern California city.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-state-of-scooters-in-los-angeles).
Irrigation might have saved Jackson's hay, but she and her husband rejected the idea about 10 years ago over the cost: as much as $75,000 for a new well and all the equipment. But now — with an extended drought and another U.S. heat wave this week that will broil her land about an hour northwest of Dallas for days in 100-degree-plus temperatures — Jackson said she is “kind of rethinking.”
Children’s advocacy groups including Fairplay and Common Sense Media are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google, saying the tech giant serves personalized ads to kids on YouTube despite federal law prohibiting the practice.
U.S. regulators on Wednesday announced a settlement with the company that runs Dollar Tree and Family Dollar aimed at improving worker safety at thousands of the bargain stores across the country.
From moving finances online to the new ways we'll be getting cash, Ray Hatch, the Vice President of Enterprise Solutions Vertical Markets at Comcast Business explains how the banking industry is getting ready for the future.
