ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – After a four-year hiatus that started with the pandemic,
dozens of those bright orange rental scooters from the company Spin are back on Albuquerque’s streets under a new set of rules.
SPIN deployed 50 scooters on Central in front of the University of New Mexico and on Avenida Ceasar Chavez in front of Lobo Village. “We’re going to be in the highest density areas, so that’s going to be corely downtown near the university. But, as we expand and grow when we start seeing the demand, we would love to see this more city-wide,” said Kylee Floodman with Spin.
Like the first time the scooters were deployed, they will not work in certain prohibited zones, including on UNM’s campus. Floodman said the best way to find out if a scooter is near you is to check the Spin mobile app. “Over the next week, in coming weeks, we’ll ramp up to a couple hundred vehicles depending on the demand that we see, how much people are riding them around,” said Floodman.
Albuquerque City Council recently updated the ordinance known as the shared active transportation program to bring back companies like Spin by offering cheaper permit fees and less strict regulations. Floodman said the scooters will also be a little different this time. “So you’re going to see sturdier vehicles, a safer ride, and technology that is much more controlled than you probably saw a couple of years ago,” Floodman explained.
A scooter rental with Spin costs $1 to start and 40 cents per minute after that. When a user is done with the ride, the city allows the scooter to be left near a bike rack, in a landscape buffer, or in designated parking areas identified in the app.
