MILWAUKEE — A city-led survey revealed a majority of people in Milwaukee want dockless scooters to be allowed permanently.
The City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW) recently released its analysis of the 2021 Dockless Scooter Pilot Study. The pilot ran from June 1 to Nov. 15. The public survey concluded on Dec. 31.
Dockless scooter were legalized in 2019 in Wisconsin. Milwaukee allowed them in 2019 and 2021 under a temporary pilot program.
More than 350,000 total rides were generated in 2019. That grew to 481,706 total rides in 2021. According to our partners at the Milwaukee Business Journal, that number would have likely been higher but the city limited the use of scooters in the downtown area in August of 2021. This was because 30% of riders were illegally driving them on the sidewalk. According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, this caused city-wide scooter ridership to drop. Ridership counts were 139,045 in June, 158,662 in July, and it dropped to 70,558 in August. The survey revealed 48.3% did not approve of the downtown ban.
The survey received 5,428 responses, and 55.8% said the scooters should be allowed permanently. Nearly 15% said they should be made legal with changes, such as ways to keep riders off sidewalks. About 29% of responders said they should be prohibited in the future.
The survey also showed most riders traveled on the scooters to and from entertainment events, for recreation purposes, and to and from restaurants. According to the survey, 52.7% of riders said they were riding for fun.
DPW says a recommendation for the future of scooters in Milwaukee will be coming in the future. Last year, Milwaukee had temporary agreements for Bird, Lime and Spin scooters.
You can read the full report by clicking here.
