E-scooters will no longer be a mode of transportation in Manhattan in the new year.
City officials announced this week that effective Sunday, the LINK/Superpedestrian e-scooters will no longer be available throughout the community or on the Kansas State University campus. The company that oversees those e-scooters, Superpedestrian, will cease operations after the new year, due to financial challenges as reported by Tech Crunch earlier this month.
E-scooters were introduced in Manhattan in August 2020 after the city contracted with Superpedestrian (formerly LINK) for a pilot program, deploying about 150 scooters into the city, at the request of Kansas State University. That fleet of scooters eventually expanded to 450. Since that time, officials say more than 412,000 trips have been taken throughout the community.
City and university officials are planning to discuss other opportunities in 2024 to bring e-scooters back to the community.