Editor's Note: The above video discusses the new scooter rules being enforced in Tempe.
Love them or hate them, electric scooters are officially coming to downtown Phoenix, for the next six months at least.
The City of Phoenix announced it would launch an e-scooter pilot program starting Monday in downtown, the same day new electric scooter rules are being enforced in Tempe.
"It was a result of really looking at what other cities had done and not done that really helped develop this program," Briana Velez, City of Phoenix Assistant Transportation Director said. "We want this to be a safe mode of transportation."
The program will allow three companies, Bird, Lime, Spin, to deploy and operate scooters within a designated part of the city for six months.
The pilot program boundary, as the city calls it, includes an area of Phoenix between 7th Avenue and 7th Street from Buckeye Road to McDowell Road. The boundary also stretches on Grand Avenue to 15th Avenue and back south of Margaret T Hance Park up to McDowell Road.
According to the city, the scooters must be operated and parked within this boundary. There are more than 400 parking locations for scooters within the boundary, the city says.
There are also no-ride zones. These areas are marked in red on the city's pilot program map. The no-ride zones include areas like the Arizona Center, Talking Stick Resort Arena, Chase Field, Arizona State University campus, Phoenix Convention Center, Civic Space Plaza, Phoenix City Hall and Municipal Court, 4th Avenue Jail and the Maricopa County Superior Court.
Under the implemented rules, you can't ride the scooters on the sidewalk and you have to be 18 years old to ride.
The ordinance says Phoenix police can cite people who don't follow the rules.
"We want the scooter riders to understand they have to comply with all the applicable traffic laws," Velez said. "They should not be operating these under the influence of any kind."
While some are already enjoying the new way to get around downtown, others are skeptical from a safety standpoint, even with the rules Phoenix has in place. The CDC said 45 percent of injuries on the scooters are head injuries. Earlier this year, a Mesa man died after colliding with a friend while riding a scooter in San Diego.
"It's always a start, but when you have new technology it always takes time to work out the legislative or ordinance kinks before things actually run the way they're supposed to run," Emily Rice said.
The program will be analyzed over the next six months to look at how, when and where the scooters are used, how safe they are, and community feedback on them. The results will be reported to Phoenix City Council at three and six months in.