Long Beach will study whether to allow e-scooters on beach bike path 

Long Beach will study the safety of allowing electric scooters on the beach bike path — an idea that sparked strong opinions from those who live along the coast and beyond.

The two council members who represent the majority of the city’s coast — Cindy Allen on the west end of the path and Kristina Duggan on the eastern half — embodied those opposing views on Tuesday.

Allen, who proposed the study and said she is an avid scooter rider, said she’s had numerous conversations with residents who believe scooter access should be expanded to the beach path, which she said is the safest way to get from one end of the city to the other.

Duggan, meanwhile, also cited safety as a reason not to allow the electric-powered devices on the same path as bikers or pedestrians.

“This really raises concerns for people seeing more and more modes of transportation on a limited area space,” she said.

Duggan, who represents the Belmont Shore and Naples Island area, said when she heard about the item on Tuesday’s council agenda, she sent a survey out to her constituents. In less than 24 hours, she said she received 594 responses, and 85% of them were against the idea.

In dozens of pages of email correspondence from the public to the council, residents complained of scooters being discarded along the coast, drunk and distracted riders posing a danger to pedestrians, speeding, reckless riding and more.

“The people that ride the scooters are a serious danger to themselves and others,” resident Kristine Dyck wrote.

The council, however, passed the motion to study the issue by a 6-2 vote, with Duggan and Councilmember Al Austin in opposition.

Councilmember Roberto Uranga emphasized that this is authorization for a study only — not a decision to allow scooters.

“We can’t make decisions based on perceptions,” he said. “We need data.”

Allen requested the study be completed in 30 days, not the usual 45, and that deliberations continue once the study is finished.