Consumer Reporter Susan Hogan offers some safety information about electric scooters.
Uber launched their dockless electric scooter service, Jump, in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore on Tuesday morning.
Jump scooters can be rented through the Uber app, which shows users where the closest scooters are to them. Riders can also walk up to a scooter and scan its QR code to unlock it.
Unlike almost every dockless scooter the D.C. area, Jump scooters are free to unlock. Users pay 15 cents per minute of their ride.
Most other companies, including Lyft, Lime, Bird and Skip, charge a $1 flat fee to unlock a scooter and 15-25 cents per minute to ride.
Uber was already operating Jump as a dockless bike service in D.C. after purchasing the company in May of 2018. This is Uber’s first venture into the e-scooter industry following the success of five other companies in D.C.
E-scooters have seen significant success in D.C., in part because of the fact that unlike dockless bikes, which have to be parked to a rack or street sign after use, scooters can be left anywhere the rider chooses.
Moreover, the D.C. Department of Transportation estimated that as many as 16,800 scooters could be on the streets in 2019, DCist reported.
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Uber's scooters are now available in 10 cities across the country.
