Bumpy start for 6-month pilot program to bring e-scooters to Downtown Phoenix

PHOENIX - A new six-month pilot program for scooters in Downtown Phoenix has an interesting catch: if it's not parked in designated areas, the users will be charged for it.

One week into the program, however, the technology used to implement that rule isn't working. Now, the City of Phoenix is trying to adjust.

"Our requirement to park only in designated parking zones is innovative, and there are some growing pains with that," said Ashley Patton with the City of Phoenix Transportation Department.

Bird and Lime have pulled their scooters off the streets

"We found that the technology that was demonstrated in the trial runs was not the technology in the streets," said Patton.

Bird says they don't have enough scooters that meet the parking requirements. and Lime describes their plan to fix it as making "minor updates".

"It kind of makes it a little more convenient for people to pick them up and leave them there, basically," said Lansa Histia.

The parking aspect of the scooters is still being debated, but wherever people leave them., no one expects the scooters to disappear.

"We anticipated there would be growing pains, technological glitches along the way, and we're excited to continue to work with both companies to get those scooters to be on the streets," said Patton.