GetCharged, Inc., which operates under the name Charge, announced June 6 that it has secured over 250 charging station locations around Atlanta for dockless e-scooters and e-bikes.
Charge announced it would have the first 25 charging stations up and running this summer, working with parking operators and real estate owners to installed the docking stations. It has not partnered with any of the companies – Bird, Lyft, Uber, Lime, Bolt, etc., – which have deployed more than 10,000 dockless scooters and bikes to the streets of the city, but Charge co-founder and CEO Andrew Fox said the company plans to work with the operators.
The burning question is will anyone actually use a dock for a dockless scooter?
“The City of Atlanta recognizes the issues with dockless systems and is starting to crack down on e-scooter companies, having recently issued more than $100,000 in fines and impound fees, and it is time for the community to have a workable solution that solves these issues and empowers the micromobility industry,” Andrew Fox, Charge Co-Founder and CEO, said in a statement to the media.
City Councilmember Andrea Boone, who is also vice-chair of the city’s Public Safety Committee, said she welcomes a solution that addresses the safety and aesthetic issues caused by the scooters.
“As the city continues to grow, so has the need for alternative, eco-friendly modes of transportation like e-scooters and e-bikes, but these innovative transportation solutions, while fantastic for so many reasons, have cluttered our city streets and sidewalks,” Boone said.
Fox described the public frustration with the e-scooters blocking sidewalks, the Atlanta BeltLine and piled up on street corners as a “perfect storm” for Charge to provide a solution it hopes to replicate in other cities nationwide and in Europe.
Charge has also developed a proprietary mobile application that will enable consumers to easily locate and use e-scooters and e-bikes through interfacing with its docking stations and provide users with available real-time locations. The app will also be integrated with partnered rideshare platforms to identify available e-vehicles and their level of charge, providing users with a one-stop-shop for shared mobility services.
Charge’s indoor, outdoor and pop-up mobile docking stations are designed to be compatible with most brands of e-scooters and e-bikes.
The full list of locations in Atlanta can be found at this link.