ATLANTA — You may have seen the photo – of a person riding one of those mobile scooters on the Interstate – making the rounds on social media and wondered if it is real.
The Atlanta City Council is not only confirming the photo is real, they're holding a session Friday to talk about regulating the scooters that some are calling a nuisance.
"The Atlanta City Council’s Public Safety and Legal Administration and Transportation Committees will hold a work session Friday, July 13 on shareable dockless mobility devices (Ordinance 18-O-1300).
The work session will be held in Committee Room 1 beginning at 10 a.m. at Atlanta City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue S.W," according to the Atlanta City Council's Facebook page.
They're called shareable dockless mobility devices, more commonly referred to as "bird scooters."
11Alive reported on them a few weeks ago, and how they're causing controversy across the country. That's because the scooters are being left wherever riders want to leave them, because they aren't tied to a station. After the renter is done with it, they simply leave it wherever they stop.
But, like the guy spotted riding it on the highway, there are several other examples of people riding them where they shouldn't be, like on the BeltLine.
The scooters are both vilified and celebrated here, with some sharing with 11Alive their experience of being hit by tourists on the scooters. Others said they didn't feel the city shouldn't over-regulate because of one person riding on the highway.
Wednesday's work session could standardize safety equipment, require operators to have $3 million in insurance and give the city the option to build areas where the scooters must be parked, among other things.
The session will be held at 10 a.m. in City Hall.
