Over the past few years, Dallas has cycled from allowing electric scooters on its city sidewalks to subsequently banning them, usually over safety concerns. Yet, after two years of scooter-less walkways, Dallas is planning for three rental companies to provide the services once again.

On September 4th, 2020, the city of Dallas announced that all electric rental scooters must be removed from city streets. Big-name companies like Lime and Bird were forced to wait as the city reviewed safety protocols.

Transportation Director Mike Rogers stated that the change was due to the large volume of complaints from city-goers, which alleged that the dockless vehicle ordinance was not being followed correctly and the scooters were a public safety issue.

Companies approved during this round of applications will be allowed to deploy 500 dockless vehicles into the city, for a total of 1,500 between the three companies that will be selected. The city has also developed new parking zones for electric scooters and bikes, as well as established slow-ride and no-ride zones to ensure pedestrian safety.

So, ready or not, electric scooters are returning to inner-city Dallas. Nationwide, the debate over the advantages and disadvantages of these dockless vehicles continues.

Basic ride-share bikes and other forms of personal transportation have been around since the 1960s. In China, where an advanced ride-share system enables over 47 million rides per day, the dockless vehicle program is used by over half of its residents.

In studies conducted in 12 different Chinese cities, dockless vehicle programs excelled at reducing carbon emissions and proved to be safer overall than driving a car. It is easy to see the appeal and convenience of these “last-mile” transportation options when all goes well.

However, in U.S. cities where the dockless vehicle system is less established, the fleet of e-scooters and bikes can prove to be troublesome. Unreliable hardware and tech issues are frequently reported as tech companies move too fast in installing e-scooters across cities. On smaller city sidewalks, already short on space, scooters have piled up and blocked intersections and businesses.

The problem became so extensive in San Francisco that City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent the scooter companies cease and desist letters, stating, “San Francisco has had enough of the mantra ‘move fast and break things.'”

Additionally, some experts have cast doubts on whether or not dockless vehicles are as environmentally friendly as promoted.

The lithium batteries the e-scooters use, similar to those found in other electric vehicles, only last 300-1,000 charges, depending on the company. After the life cycle of the scooter is over, these batteries pollute landfills. The process of creating new batteries is costly and not emission-free. Plus, vans must travel across the city each night to pick up the scooters so they can be charged for the next day, adding to the hidden emission cost of each ride.