New Scooter Sharing System Unveiled in SF

It’s being described as “the world’s first network of shared electric scooters.” Now, instead of walking, driving or using public transportation, drivers can saddle up on a scooter from Scoot Networks to get around town in San Francisco.

The shared scooter system was put in place to help reduce traffic in the city and provide an alternative mode of transportation for those who live or work in San Francisco.

Those interested in participating in the program must apply for a membership (www.ScootNetworks.com), obtain a login and password and have either an iOS or Android smartphone. The fleet of scooters are operated by plugging in your smartphone into the dashboard, which will start the vehicle. Each scooter costs only $0.18 worth of power to charge over eight hours – and the basic membership is $5 a month. There is a $5/hour fee for short trips and a flat fee of $10/hour during the workday (8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.).

The bikes will be available at the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets and garages at Fifth and Mission streets, Ninth and Bryant streets and Second and Brannan streets.

The Scoots can travel at 25-30 mph and have a charge time of almost eight hours from flat to full. They are also all electric.

More locations for pickup and dropoff are expected in the future.

Photo Credit: Scoot Networks

It's simple. Keith Mizuguchi loves to write and write and write some more. After taking a hiatus from the journalism business, he has rekindled his passion for writing over the last two years, holding a job as both a web and on-air writer for San Francisco news radio station KCBS. While he enjoys the news business, his true passions are twofold: sports and food. Bay Area born and raised, he lives in San Jose, commutes to SF and loves every minute of it. You can follow his food adventures on Twitter @foodie_keith.