The wheels came off San Francisco’s short-distance transportation experiment on Monday, when City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent a cease and desist letter to three companies that had flooded the city’s streets with electric scooter rentals. David Estrada, chief legal officer for Santa Monica, California-based Bird Rides Inc., said the company wants to work with city officials to solve traffic problems in San Francisco. Among the city’s complaints: The scooter companies have violated state law (yes, apparently California has a state statute governing electric scooters) by allowing riders to scoot on sidewalks, without helmets, and with two people to a scooter. San Francisco is ordering three companies that rent out motorized scooters to stop operating until they can ensure riders are following state law and the dockless devices are not a hazard to the public.... (Associated Press) 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco is ordering three companies that began renting motorized foot-pedal scooters in the city last month to stop operating until they can ensure riders are obeying state laws and that the devices are not a hazard to the public. “We are taking his concerns very seriously and reviewing his recommendations for improving Bird in San Francisco.” Lime says it’s taking the City Attorney seriously, as well as the vote by the BOS today. All three of their respective scooters were found on the streets of San Francisco this morning. "I can grab one and zoom on over to where I need to go and then zoom right back," Handley said after dropping off a LimeBike outside a FedEx office in downtown San Francisco. “We plan to roll out new initiatives, along with our complete response to the City Attorney by the end of next week.” Lime says it will also provide helmets to users, which will we able for pickup starting April 22.
– A battle between the city of San Francisco and companies that rent out motorized scooters has come to a head: On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance seeking to regulate the scooters, TechCrunch reports. At issue is the fact that the companies—LimeBike, Spin, and Bird—started operating three weeks ago without approval from the city, and city authorities say the electric scooters can be dangerous. "We cannot overstate the public safety hazard that operating motorized scooters pose on City sidewalks," said City Attorney Dennis Herrera in a cease-and-desist letter to the companies Monday, per Slate. The letter ordered the companies to stop operating until a plan was in place to make sure customers stop riding on sidewalks and without helmets or drivers licenses, and stop parking in places that block sidewalks, ramps, and transit stops. (They don't require a docking station and can thus be left anywhere when riders are done using them, the AP reports.) TechCrunch says the letter didn't "seem to be making any difference," as scooters from all three companies were spotted on San Francisco streets Tuesday. The Board of Supervisors is looking to put a permitting process in place for the scooter companies similar to the one that exists for bike-sharing companies operating in the city; it hopes to have the process in place by May 1. It also plans to establish fines starting at $125 when scooter regulations are violated.