"Geofencing": How Cities Stop Scooters

December 30, 2019
You are currently viewing “Geofencing”: How Cities Stop Scooters

Geofencing has become the new term for many cities who have a scooter program. It involves limiting the scooter’s performance to a set border. This has caused a decrease in missing scooters and many other issues that come from city scooters.

What Is Geofencing?

The concept is similar to an electronic collar for pets but without the electrical shock. The goal is to simply stop people from moving outside of the registered border zones. This has been proven to decrease injuries and theft for many scooter companies.

Where are the borders?

The borders have a very extreme difference depending on which brand of scooter you use. Where some companies don’t necessarily have a border, they will simply drop the speed limit to the designated area that you are moving into. Sometimes you might find yourself slowing down drastically from 15 mph to 5mph because you crossed into a different territory.

What Will Happen When You Cross a Border

If you leave the border, a scooter might simply slow down to the registered speed limit of that area, while others may just stop altogether. Now, this doesn’t mean that the brakes will instantly lock up while you’re bombing down an LA hill, but it means you will feel it slow down to a complete stop. If this happens, you have the unfortunate responsibility of walking the scooter back up the hill until it is back within its designated borders.

Geofencing Designated “Red Zones”

Many “red zones” have been put in place to inform scooter users that they are now leaving a designated area. This is to help people from riding a designated scooter well into another territory. It also helps to keep track of how many are within the border. Signs are put up to inform users that they are either entering or leaving a designated zone.

Good Luck Stealing One

As if the city of LA would ever let people just take these scooters all “willy-nilly”. There are GPS tracking devices installed into every scooter. If the GPS senses that the scooter is being taken out of its jurisdiction, then it will stop. If it is stolen and put into a car, then the GPS will help locate the device.

Close Menu
Get a FREE Quote