electric scooters

Perhaps the most decorated Democrat ever to serve Indiana in Congress – Birch Bayh – has passed away.

He left a legacy for other Democrats – including Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski – to follow, but is that sort of progressivism waning? Mayor Roswarski describes himself as a conservative Democrat, and he doesn’t have a challenger as he pursues a fifth term in office in this year’s race, which would seem to indicate popularity.

We inquire about the way forward for Democrats in Indiana this week on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor.

As expected, the city of West Lafayette is going to charge scooter companies tens – and perhaps hundreds – of thousands of dollars a year for the right to reach a college audience that couldn’t get enough of them last fall. But the price might be so high that it’s no longer financially viable for those companies to operate in West Lafayette. But was that the whole point of the ordinance?

We put that question to West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis today on WBAA’s Ask The Mayor.

A House panel approved legislation Wednesday to regulate electric scooters, which have proliferated across the state during the last year.

Ever since the beginning of the great Bird invasion of 2018 – we’re referring here to the dropping of hundreds of electric scooters in Greater Lafayette – cities have been struggling with how to regulate the two-wheeled vehicles and their operators.

The city of Lafayette today announced creation of a pilot program that seeks to do just that with the three companies that have, so far, sent scooters to town. But what happens if – some might even say when – the rules are broken? We ask that this week of Lafayette’s Tony Roswarski on Ask The mayor.

Electric scooters are taking over Indiana’s cities. They're often billed as an environmentally-friendly transportation alternative, but that depends on how you use them.