For decades, cars have dominated the streets, relegating pedestrians and cyclists to the fringes. But in recent years, more and more people have become fed up with traffic and the struggle to pay for a car. Cities are increasing investing in transit, cycling, and pedestrian infrastructure. But no attempt to meet these challenges has been more visible than electric scooters.

Nearly two years ago, dockless e-scooters started appearing on the sidewalks of major cities across the United States, eventually fanning out to Europe, Asia, Australia, and beyond. In most American cities, the companies didn’t bother getting permits or checking their services would be legal; they just dropped off their scooters, provoking what some journalists dubbed the “scooter wars.”

Cities scrambled to update regulations and implement permitting programs, as residents complained about scooters blocking sidewalks (a major issue for accessibility of wheelchair users, people of limited mobility of all kinds, and pedestrians attempting to use sidewalks), users hitting them as they walked, and the scooters themselves being unreliable and causing injury. Scooters have accelerated a conversation about the future of the streets. But their imposition on public space has been troubling. And as more details come out about the economics of scooter companies, it’s clear they will eventually have to become a public service if they are to survive at all — a shift that will grant cities more control over them.