Just as the scooter program was starting to take off in Alexandria and the electric vehicles became ubiquitous on Old Town streets, new data shows the pandemic tanked scooter usage in the city throughout 2020.
A report going to the City Council tomorrow (Tuesday) showed that while scooter usage exceeded 2019 levels in January and February of 2020, by March the pandemic had started to hit scooter usage. In April and May — during the stay-at-home order, ridership tanked to near non-existence in the months that had been the peak of ridership in 2019.
Ridership slowly started increasing again through June and July, peaking for the year in August.
The Alexandria Ad Hoc Scooter Task Force met for the first time in September to consider whether to move into the next phase of the program — which it was determined would be no different given time constraints — or let the pilot program expire later this year.
In light of the unusual circumstances of 2020, the Alexandria Ad Hoc Scooter Task Force is requesting that the pilot being extend to December 31, 2021, by the City Council. The extension would grant staff more time to develop strategy and gather feedback for the third phase of the program.
Graph via City of Alexandria
