People are going to love these for about a day, and then complain that the scooters are littered all over the neighborhood. I look forward to the inevitable Twitter posts of the ridiculous locations these scooters will be found

I would be interested to know what the school district is planning to do about this. I can definitely imagine them being left all over Paly, as well as other schools including Stanford. Teens in particular will love the availability of this.

As a bicyclist I hate it when those things take up space at the already limited parking space for bicycles. There's no need to chain those things so they should stay away from regular bike parking. I've tried to move one away years ago but they're pretty heavy.

As long as the scooters stay off the sidewalks, I'm OK with them. Let these motorized adults (who never grew up) battle it out with the cars and we'll see who wins territorial rights.

There should also be citations for those who ride their bikes on the sidewalks...sidewalks are for pedestrians ONLY.

Yes please! I'm in favor of everything we can to get rid off cars from downtown: less pollution, less noise, less pedestrian killing machines! Let's turn car parking spots into scooter parking spots, and let's turn two-direction road into one-way roads and open larger bike/scooter lanes!

Seems like a great idea, especially in Palo Alto where everyone always complains endlessly about the traffic problems. I'd certainly visit Cal Ave and University Ave more if it was easy to just scoot there and not need to worry about driving or parking a car.

Let the cavalcade of injuries begin!

We visit San Francisco a lot. San Francisco has a lot of scooter users. I don't see the scooters littering the sidewalks (at least in the last couple of years). The scooter rental companies do a good job at educating their users to only park at public bike racks and the city has been very active at installing bike racks around town. Does Palo Alto have enough bike racks, especially in the residential areas? If I want to use one of these scooters to get to the Caltrain station, where would I pick one up near my home? Or are the scooters only for out-of-town users who arrive on the train and use them to get to work?

This sounds like crony capitalism to me. Scooter companies should not be allowed to illegally park their pay-to-use scooters on public sidewalks. If they want to build warehouses around town on private property for parking then that's fine, but they should not be allowed to profit from illegal public sidewalk parking.

Sidewalks are for kids, walkers, joggers, pedestrians. Not for parking scooters! There should be zero tolerance on this matter.

ugh
who approved this?
they need to spend several weeks in a town w/ scooters and they will realize what a nuisance they are

Where is it legal to ride an electronic scooter? I know they are not legal on sidewalks, are they legal in bike lanes? Or on the road if there is no bike lane present?

Ugh. They are dangerous! Much more dangerous than bicycles and other alternative means of transportation. Why is the city allowing this?

But how will I preserve my milky white complexion?
I wouldn’t want my friends back home to think I am really working as a street hawker or farmer in California.
We gave up bikes and motorcycles long ago.
My mum and gran always complained about their skin spots and blamed it on having to ride a motorcycle or bike.
I can’t wear sunscreen.

Once upon a late 80s time, I got 2 tickets for skateboarding thru Palo Alto. I skated safe and not reckless at all. Now scooters are going to be legal???? What a joke. Shallower Alto on steroids.

Here comes all the complaints. Come on now. Getting a ticket in the 80's for skateboarding.???? Complaints about nothing thats relevant. WHAT A JOKE. Just move away if you dont like it. Who brings up a ticket from 30 years ago. Shallow Alto at its finest. smh lol

OK...as long as those geeks riding segways are prohibited from riding their contraptions on the sidewalks.

Let them use them on the 101!

Sweet! Ride it like you stole it!

Like others have said, these scooters are dangerous. I won't waste time explaining the physics, but most of the riders will be young and under estimate the risks.

It may be illegal to ride them on the sidewalk, but from experience in downtown San Jose where I work, the law is ignored. I have no doubt they will also be ridden on the sidewalks of Palo Alto which are much narrower. Who will enforce the law? Probably no one. They are a hazard to pedestrians without a doubt.

"Why is the city allowing this?"

Dazzled by trendy shiny objects

Lobbying, too. Kids on skateboards don't have a voice in city government, but lobbying and PR are the first things these startups throw money at.

Still, it might be a good thing. Reckless drivers and reckless scooters will cancel each other out in a few months, like matter and anti-matter.

Palo Alto has a shortage of convenient bike racks at most of the city's facilities, including parks, libraries (esp. Mitchell Park Library), Cubberley, Main Library, and ironically, City Hall. In addition, most Palo Alto shopping centers lack adequate bike parking. I bike to Midtown Safeway regularly. Parking my bike is regularly a problem there.

It would be nice if stores and restaurants provided at least ONE conveniently located auto parking space to provide rack space for TEN bikes. I like to bike to local restaurants, but there's often no place to park and securely lock my bike. Most City of Palo Alto events are grossly under resourced with bike parking. California Ave has a chronic shortage of bike parking on Farmers Market days.

Well, if things happen in Palo Alto as they have in other cities, the scooters will be on the sidewalks and other pedestrian areas (in parks for example), not on the roadway. So it will be scooters vs pedestrians and it will be ugly. These scooters cannot be stopped easily when they are going at cruising speed and they have seriously injured and even killed people elsewhere.

Get one of those hard plastic elbow pads that batters use in baseball, apply vigorously to the scooter rider who may be endangering your own safety on the sidewalk. Brace, then explode forward using legs and shoulder for power.

And how do these venture capitalists scooter co’s intend to wipe them down every day if they are hill and dale to prevent Covid-19 spread? BTW the spelling is of the illness has not self corrected. Google get it together. I wonder how WaiWai spells it.

Saw an elderly Asian lady going THE WRONG WAY on Evelyn bicycle shoulder yesterday.

Use of thse things without helmets, wrist protection, etc highly irresponsible and shouldn't be encouraged by the city.