Transportation Commission proposes pilot study for electric scooter rentals; two companies requesting to bring them to Lawrence

Before any companies are allowed to bring rentable electric scooters to the streets of Lawrence, the city’s Transportation Commission wants a pilot study to be conducted.

Two companies have already requested permission to bring scooter rental businesses to Lawrence, and the Transportation Commission voted during its meeting this week to create a subcommittee to develop a pilot program to test out scooters. Transportation Commission Chair Steve Evans told the Journal-World that the safety of the electric scooters, or “e-scooters,” would be a key concern for the subcommittee when recommending rules for the pilot study.

“What we don’t want to do is just throw 50 e-scooters on the streets and see what happens,” Evans said. “We need to know what does this pilot study look like, who is engaged in it and what will be the rules for the pilot study.”