Spin announced Friday morning that they have installed Spin Hubs, e-scooter charging stations, in downtown Phoenix.
Phoenix is the first city in the U.S. to install these Spin Hubs in the public right-of-way. In light of approving the Pilot Program extension in Wednesday’s Formal City Council Meeting, Councilman Michael Nowakowski said in Spin’s press release that he is excited by Spin’s move to downtown.
“I am thrilled to see Spin expanding their presence, by adding much needed charging and parking stations in downtown Phoenix,” Nowakowski said. “It’s great to have Spin as part of the city’s e-scooter Pilot Program, which is helping residents and visitors enjoy downtown by improving accessibility and providing alternative modes of transportation.”
Adding the Spin Hubs to the public right-of-way “will help the City encourage orderly parking and improve the reliability of scooters for riders,” according to the release.
Spin was the only scooter vendor to stay with the Pilot Program, which launched in September 2019. According to the city’s formal agenda from Wednesday, the program was originally meant to end on March 16, 2020. But for the next six months, Spin scooters and two Spin Hubs on East First Street and Taylor Street and East Fifth Street and Monroe Street will continue to be available for downtown residents.
The council re-opened vendor applications with the extension, but as of now Spin is still the only functioning e-scooter vendor. As a result, Spin will increase its current 300 e-scooters to 900. In addition, residents who park the e-scooters at the Hubs can receive a discount off of their next ride.
“When those two other companies left, we felt like there was an opportunity for us to step up make sure that there wasn’t any reduction in the number of alternative transportation options here in Phoenix,” said Tim Alborg, Director of Government Partnerships at Spin. “And so we worked with the city and they were able to allot us a larger fleet increase.”
According to Spin’s press release, the company plans to partner with the city and add eight more Spin Hubs throughout downtown over the next month. The stations, Alborg said in the release, are using technology to minimize clutter in downtown roads and sidewalks.
“Every time we enter into a partnership with a city, we create a program that closely aligns with the city’s transportation goals,” Alborg said. “As the only company in the U.S. that is investing in scooter infrastructure, we knew this was an opportunity for Spin to support Phoenix’s goal to improve access to new mobility options while mitigating clutter. Today’s announcement shows Spin’s leadership in making private investments in transportation for the public good.”
According to Alborg, those eight Hubs will all be installed in the public right-of-way. The city currently has 400 parking locations, Alborg said, and the Spin Hubs will not only help residents have access to fully charged scooter but they will also help the company as well as the city.
“Also from our company’s perspective, it decreases the number of miles we are putting on our delivery vehicles to go out and pick up these vehicles, bring then back to the warehouse, charge them, and then bring them back out in the morning. So really, it is decreasing carbon emissions from our fleet of delivery vehicles, which helps the city’s overall sustainability goals.”
In addition to helping reduce emissions, the Hubs allow the e-scooters to charge overnight, providing residents with a charged scooter in the morning. There will still be a midnight cut-off, Alborg said, but there is no longer a requirement for Spin to pick up the e-scooters.
Spin also plans to expand the Hubs to private property in downtown, according to the release. Properties would include “hotels, businesses, apartment complexes and university campuses.” Spin has already installed these Hubs in other east coast cities such as Tampa, Florida. Alborg also said that Spin and the city are working on installing eight more Hubs, but when and where those Hubs will be installed is still being discussed.
Phoenix’s Street Transportation Department Director Kini Knudson said in the release that one of the concerns downtown residents have is the cluttering of streets and sidewalks. With more Hubs, Spin and the city address the public’s concern. The program, he said, allows downtown to continue to remain innovative in exploring alternate transportation.
“We are excited to partner with Spin to add Spin Hubs as another forward-thinking solution,” he said.
Contact the reporter at ldiethel@asu.edu
Lisa Diethelm is the Politics editor for the Downtown Devil while she studies at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix. She grew up in California and started her journalism career in high school.
