Superpedestrian: Superpedestrian pulls out of Chicago scooter-rental market

Superpedestrian has pulled its scooters from Chicago streets.Superpedestrian Scooter-rental company Superpedestrian has left the Chicago market, blaming stiff competition and the city's special relationship with competitor Lyft, which also operates the city's Divvy short-term bike rental service.The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company told the city last week it had pulled out the last of its 1,000 scooters, according to the company and the Chicago Department of Transportation.Superpedestrian had 12.5% of the city's rental scooters but only 4% of scooter rides since the company launched the service in Chicago in June 2022, CDOT said.The company was one of four companies with licenses to offer short-term scooter rentals. The remaining companies are Lyft, Spin and Lime. Related Lime tests scooters with seats in Chicago Superpedestrian spokesperson Jamie Perkins said the company struggled to compete against Lyft, saying Lyft was given special access to the Central Business District."The city's special relationship with Divvy makes it a difficult landscape" for other scooter companies, Perkins said.Superpedestrian was allowed to keep just 40 scooters in the Central Business District, Perkins said. Meanwhile, the company and other rental scooter providers, excluding Lyft, are required to have 50% of their fleet on the South and West sides, where they saw fewer riders. Superpedestrian said about 60% of its scooter trips began in those areas.CDOT did not have an immediate comment on Superpedestrian's claim. Lyft did not immediately reply to a request for comment.Scooter companies have deployed an average of 57% of their fleets on the South and West sides, which the city dubs "equity priority areas," CDOT said in a statement. About 42% of total scooter trips began in these communities, CDOT said, an increase from 23% from the 2020 scooter pilot program.Superpedestrian will now focus on its other main markets: Los Angeles, Seattle and Baltimore, Perkins said. Related New Divvy scooters have phone chargers, blinkers and an AI-powered sidewalk-detecting camera Scooter ridership has increased dramatically since the city's pilot programs in 2019 and 2020.About 3.2 million scooter trips have been taken since May 2022, when rental scooter services were fully launched, CDOT said. More than a million trips have been taken this summer, since June 21, CDOT said. That's a 170% increase from the same period last year.The remaining companies have about 6,000 scooters. Lime has 3,000; Spin has 1,500; and Lyft has 1,500 scooters, CDOT said. Lyft's scooters are limited to the greater downtown area.Also Thursday, Lime said its ridership in Chicago is booming. The San Francisco-based company has recorded more than 1 million rides this year.