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Over 15,000 independent trips were taken during the first month of the City of Asbury Park’s pilot electric scooter share program, officials announced Thursday. The data shows scooter trips averaged 12.2 minutes with an average trip distance of 0.51 miles.

“We launched the pilot program with the goal of providing an inexpensive transportation option for residents in Asbury Park who may not have access to a car,” Transportation Director Michael Manzella said in the written statement. “We also hoped to reduce parking demand and congestion. We are pleased with the initial results, which show scooters are being used by residents in all areas of the city and that they are replacing automobile trips – an estimated 5,056 car trips were prevented. And, due to demand, we have increased the number of scooter parking locations throughout Asbury Park from 30 to 50.”

The program launched in early August in partnership with the City’s bicycle share vendor Zagster and their partner SPIN.

SPIN will be hosting a free scooter trial and safety session from 10 am to 3 pm Sep 29 during the Asbury Fresh Farmers Market in Kennedy Park, located at Cookman and Grand Avenues. Participants can visit with SPIN representatives to learn how to safely ride scooters.

“As with any pilot, we are constantly evaluating and fine-tuning the program,” Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn said. “In fact, over the last few weeks, we’ve taken additional steps to enhance rider safety and education. We’re thrilled to find the scooter program is connecting all parts of Asbury Park and continue to work towards successful and safe operation of the scooters.”

• The e-scooter program has 250 scooters stationed at 50 locations across Asbury Park.

• Riders must be 18 years old and older.

• Scooters are available from 7 am to 9 pm daily at a cost of $1 plus $0.15 per minute.

• Download the mobile Spin app to set up an account, find a map of scooter locations, pay for sessions, and ‘unlock’ scooters for use with a QR code scan.

• Scooters must be operated on City streets in bike lanes when available, and not on sidewalks.

For more on the electric scooter share first-month report, click here. For a map of scooter locations, click here. For more information on the pilot electric scooter program, click here. And, for more information on the City of Asbury Park, visit cityofasburypark.com.

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