Scooters have become increasingly popular on Norwalk’s roads, particularly electric models which are quiet, responsive and eco-friendly. While they can serve as a convenient way to get around, their upfront costs and the need for secure storage could make potential buyers think twice.
That is why Juan Baez and Jamar McPherson bought 10 of them.
Baez and McPherson are the co-owners of Skoot the Block, a scooter rental service that currently concentrates rentable scooters at two locations in Norwalk: a gas station near the East Norwalk Train Station and the 1st Street lot of SignSmart sign makers adjacent to Mr. Frosty’s, the popular ice cream stand.
Baez explained the idea to launch the company came while he and McPherson were chatting at the gym.
“One day he mentioned that he had been in Puerto Rico and he just jumped on an electric scooter and it was one of the funnest things ever,”Baez recalled. “I started thinking it might be a great idea for us. Then fast forward a bit and he ended up going to Texas and he said, ‘You’re not going to believe it, but I jumped on scooters again.’ He loved everything about it, how quickly he could scan [a QR code] and just jump on, how he was able to go to so many different locations super quickly ““ and he kept telling me about it. So, after all those conversations in the gym it just kind of generated the idea that I got to the point where I was like, ‘You know what? Let’s do it.'”The pair began researching their options and hit upon Aniv, a California-based marketplace designed to enable entrepreneurs like McPherson and Baez to launch their own micro-mobility services. Aniv provides a tool set upon which small businesses can launch their own apps complete with individualized branding without requiring extensive training in coding. It also helped the duo find and purchase compatible scooters and figure out how to manage the logistics involved.
“They were able to provide so much information that it was kind of a no-brainer for us to work with them,”said Baez
The scooters cost 45 cents per minute to ride, but with a top speed of 15 miles per hour and unrestricted travel anywhere in Norwalk they can prove faster than a bus and cheaper than rideshare apps. Even unregistered users can begin using the scooters within a few minutes by scanning a QR code which can be found on the scooters themselves or on the boards advertising where they are concentrated.
The app will show the current locations of scooters, allow their activation, and let users end rides wherever they are. For 10 cents a minute, a ride can be “paused””“ otherwise an unoccupied scooter can be used by anybody who walks up and uses the app. Riders can take the scooters outside of Norwalk, but they will be unable to end their trips outside of designated “green zones”monitored by GPS.
McPherson emphasized that they settled on the scooters and Aniv because they were easy to use, saying the entrepreneurial duo “wanted to make sure that customers of all ages could hop right on and ‘scoot the block.'””We’re both from Norwalk,”McPherson added, “and we were thinking that Norwalk needs new attractions, new things to do. Fairfield and Bridgeport already have scooter services, so we figured why not here? There’s a demand for micro-mobility.”While the co-owners said that it required some investment to get the operation off the ground, results have been encouraging enough ““ particularly on the weekends since launch ““ that they plan to expand their scooter fleet in the near future.
