Q2 2019

20 LATIN AMERICA NEWS / Q2 2019 , Scooter Success Mayor Joaquin Lavin awards Scoot a first-of-its-kind permit to operate ebikes in Santiago, Chile. Scoot is the first smartphone-activated electric vehicle service and operating in San Francisco, Barcelona, and Santiago with fleets of ebikes, electric kick scooters, and electric motor scooters, all accessible through the same app. Scoot, the original shared electric vehicle company, is launching their new shared ebike in the Las Condes district of Santiago, Chile. At a joint press event this weekend, Mayor Joaquin Lavin announced that Scoot had been awarded 650 permits to operate shared ebikes, making it the first shared, electric bicycle operator in Chile. Scoot will expand to other parts of Santiago with additional ebikes and electric scooters in the coming months. “Our new ebike is a major step forward for electric mobility in cities. We are proud to introduce it first in Santiago, in close consultation with the administration of Las Condes,” said Michael Keating, Founder and President of Scoot. Scoot’s ebikes have a top speed of 25 kilometers/hour and are free to unlock and then just 100 Chilean Pesos per minute to ride. Each ebike comes with a custom smart lock which allows riders to secure the vehicle to bike racks at the end of each ride. As proven with Scoot’s electric scooters, Scoot’s smart lock ensures a safe and reliable network of shared vehicles. The addition of ebikes to their service in Santiago shows how Scoot is offering more comprehensive solutions for cities’ mobility needs. With the launch of ebikes in Santiago, Scoot becomes the first company in Chile to operate two types of shared electric vehicles in a single city. And Scoot plans to build on the success of their service in Santiago by continuing to expand in Latin America. Scoot’s collaboration with Las Condes and Mayor Lavin extends beyond electric vehicles. Last month, Scoot partnered with Mayor Lavin to roll out the Holland Plan, which established a low-speed, shared transit zone in the El Golf neighborhood. Patrolled by a safety enforcement team on Scoot scooters, this new initiative created a space with a maximum speed of 30 kilometers/hour for cars, thereby allowing bicycles, scooters and pedestrians to safely travel through some of the busiest streets in Chile.