AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: A previous version of this story stated that the program wants no more than 100 scooters in the area. However, the program aims to have no more than 100 scooters per provider.
A new pilot program aims to have a maximum of 100 scooters per provider along Congress Avenue as a result of scooter-clogged sidewalks.
The Austin Transportation Department program impacts the stretch of Congress Avenue between the Capitol and Lady Bird Lake. Scooter providers are only allowed to deploy 100 scooters or less along the road and five devices or less on each block of the area.
According to a Monday release, the program "has prevented hundreds of scooters from amassing in this busy area."
Prior to the pilot program, some Austinites were raising concerns over sidewalks becoming inaccessible to pedestrians due to scooters standing and laying in the path.
Scooters are a fairly popular mode of downtown travel, amassing over 1 million total trips between April and June this year, a Monday release said. In the second quarter of 2022, "10% of all micromobility trips" in the area of Congress Avenue located between Congress Avenue Bridge and Cesar Chavez Street came from scooters.
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