European scooter company Muving makes US debut in Atlanta

Dive Brief:

Spain-based electric scooter company Muving is making its first move into the United States, launching 75 scooters in Atlanta.
Muving’s electric scooters can run for 45 miles and top out at 30 miles per hour. In compliance with Atlanta law, they also come equipped with two helmets for the driver and one passenger.
Muving is already active in 12 countries abroad and operates 2,500 vehicles. It’s expected to expand into more U.S. markets after this first foray into Atlanta.

Dive Insight:

The entry to Atlanta comes as many cities have begun to crack down on dockless scooters and bikes because they can clutter streets and sidewalks. Denver and San Francisco have even been removing them from streets pending new regulations. Atlanta, however, was supportive of bringing in Muving and has worked with the company on an orderly deployment.

Concurrently, the city council has been writing its own ordinance for dockless vehicles, noting current regulations on bikeshare are not sufficient to cover the new technology. For its part, Muving has said it would follow any new regulations. Notably, the scooters must be parked within a geomapped location, a step some cities and companies have weighed in order to cut down on clutter.

"One of our focuses is IoT, interconnectivity and smart cities, and with the opening today we are expanding our ecosystem," Jorge Fernandez, vice president of global commerce for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, said at a launch event according to the Atlanta Business Journal.

Muving also collects data on where and for how long the scooters are used, data it says it can share with cities. That would help the city plan for even more dockless companies to enter the market and determine how regulations can best be written without stifling user interest.

A more controlled launch of one company’s technology, rather than the free-for-all that created a backlash in some cities after competing companies scattered bikes and scooters, will help give the city and private interests a better pathway while reducing potential problems.