After startups riddled San Francisco streets and sidewalks with hundreds of electric scooters, the city temporarily banned the 2-wheeled terrors.
Now, SF’s Municipal Transportation Agency has created a 12-month experimental permit program to help regulate this new wave of transportation, and 12 scooter hopefuls are reportedly vying for a ticket to ride.
Ride-hailing giants Lyft and Uber joined Spin, LimeBike, and Bird in the race for permits, along with a darkhorse you may remember: Razor, babayyy.
*The crowd goes wild*
What the heck has Razor been up to these days?
Originally developed by Micro Mobility Systems in 2000, Razors instantly became synonymous with the aluminum scooting vessels themselves, selling over 5m in the first 6 months, and winning Toy of the Year in 2001.
The company, now owned by RazorUSA LLC, moved into electric scooters back in 2003 and has since diversified into other scoot-related products like the RipStik.
Now, the king of curb-hopping is back, and looking to reclaim its throne.
There can only be 5
The new program puts a 1,250-unit cap on the total number of scooters that can be offered to customers within city limits for at least 6 months, and will allow 5 active permits.
That means at least 7 contenders will walk away empty-handed, while the winners will have to split the total scooter count between them.
Permit recipients will be decided in late June, and scooters will remain off the streets while applications are processed.