At their last meeting, the Tallahassee City Commission approved the selection of two vendors for the shared micro-mobility program.
In April, the pilot program was extended until permanent vendors were chosen or until April 22. However, the vendors that were contacted were rejected for not meeting all of the MWSBE (The Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise) aspirational goals.
A subsequent request was released on May 29, 2020, to which there were four respondents. The selection committee reviewed each submission, ranked each vendor, and selected the top two vendors.
Tallahassee citizens might know the micro-mobility program better as the e-scooters and e-bikes around town that are available for rent. The selected vendors will be authorized to provide and operate up to 750 e-scooters within the City and as many bikes as they have scooters.
The two selected vendors, VeoRide and Spin, both provide opportunities for sustainable and accessible use.
VeoRide is now the only e-scooter with a swappable battery, eliminating the need for scooters to be taken off-site for charging, making them consistently available for usage and eliminating fire risks during crowd-charging. The other company, Spin, offers options for low-income riders as well as options for riders without smartphones.
The MWSBE works to identify disparities in contracting in the City of Tallahassee. It exists to provide opportunities for businesses that are run locally by women and minority groups by making sure the City is spending an equitable amount of money on MWSBE firms.
You can find out more about the Spin Access program here, more on VeoRide’s sustainability here and more about the MWSBE here.
What happened to walking?????
How could you possibly tax walking??? (seriously, if you come up with any ideas, contact city hall)
QUESTION:
Does ANY Tax Dollars go to fund any of this?
" the vendors that were contacted were rejected for not meeting all of the MWSBE (The Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise) aspirational goals." ……………….. isn't THIS racist?
"... the vendors that were contacted were rejected for not meeting all of the MWSBE (The Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise) aspirational goals."
Translation: "You vill comply viss zee social manifesto, or you vill be punished"
But never fear.. at least we have vendors that "provide opportunities for sustainable and accessible use."... whatever that means.
Banality is just so... well, banal
You can’t even walk downtown without getting ran over. I believe like most things in Tallahassee, this ends badly. The libertarian in me says businesses can do mostly what they want. However, seeing government already involved should be enough to scare anyone, including these scooter companies. Good luck.