Scooter Media Brief for October 2018

News of a class action lawsuit leads the headlines in the Wild West of mini mobility devices.

2 minute read

October 23, 2018, 5:00 AM PDT

Taking to the streets of Paris, France on an electric scooter. | Hadrian / Shutterstock

Some people return from vacation daunted by the task of catching up on email. In 2018, the challenge is catching up on scooter news.

Of course, I am exaggerating a little, at the risk of detracting from the importance of the evolution of urban mobility and the political backlash—some warranted and some uncritically supportive of the car-centric status quo—surrounding electric scooters.

An emerging legal backlash, as reported by Peter Holley, compelled another appearance of the Planetizen Scooter Media Brief. More than one transit observer took to the Internet to describe this lawsuit and the regulatory limits being placed on scooters around the country as existential threats to the business model of shared dockless electric scooters.

Below follows the rest of what I've noticed this month, even with some vacation mixed in there. Please add more in the comments if you spotted any breaking news or hot takes that I missed.

Transportation Weekly Electric Scooters News Electric Scooters Dockless Scooter Share Lawsuits

James Brasuell

James Brasuell, AICP is the former editorial director of Planetizen and is now a senior public affairs specialist at the Southern California Association of Governments. James managed all editorial content and direction for Planetizen from 2014 to 2023, and was promoted from manging editor to editorial director in 2021. After a first career as a class five white water river guide in Trinity County in Northern California, James started his career in Los Angeles as a volunteer at a risk reduction center in Skid Row.

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