STEVE LACKMEYER

Electric scooters bring new life to downtown Oklahoma City

Steve Lackmeyer
A couple pauses while riding Lime scooters downtown in September. [Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman Archives]

The late, great Jane Jacobs, the patron saint of urbanists worldwide, achieved such acclaim with fundamental truths, foremost the idea that “there must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street."

I think Ms. Jacobs might have ended up on the side of the scooters that have been added to the mix of street life in not just Oklahoma City but cities across the country.

The dockless, ride-share scooters can be picked up anywhere and left anywhere. They are designed for the Millennial/Generation Z era in which everything seems destined to start and end on one's smartphone.

The first scooters to arrive, those owned by Bird, caused a stir due to the company's disregard for local ordinances and rules. Oklahoma City took a calm, sober approach to the matter, established rules, caps and guidelines that didn't totally appease Bird and its competitor Lime, but didn't make operations impossible either.

We've seen the growing pains since the scooters arrived four months ago — riders ignoring the rules and zipping along on sidewalks jeopardizing pedestrians, scooters going where they shouldn't like the Myriad Gardens.

I've continued to watch and note the evolution of the scooters and how they are used. More and more users from what I've seen are learning and following the rules.

And they are on the streets. They are on what would have been desolate downtown streets on a Sunday afternoon. The majority of the riders are younger adults and on a good day they can be seen throughout the urban core.

With the Oklahoma City Streetcar starting service on Friday, I will be watching to see how many people start using the scooters to fill in gaps in the routes. Over the past few months I have seen some scooters used as actual transit, but more often they are a means of recreation.

That could change with the streetcar and as the city continues to invest in public transit. Jacobs, meanwhile, would likely approve of this life on the street, the eyes of youngsters zipping along and taking ownership of an urban core that once was forgotten.