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).
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