>> the california line is mostly locals. the commuters in the morning, i see a lot of the same people. we don't have as tourists. we are coming up to street to chinatown. since 1957, we are the only city in the world that runs cable cars. these cars right here are part of national parks system. in the early 1960's, they

became the first roles monument. the way city spread changed with the invention of the cable car. >> people know in san francisco, first thing they think about is, let's go

>> thank you, everyone, for coming. i welcome to the opening of scoots san francisco network. [applause]. >> thanks. today, we are opening our beta program to the san francisco public and with that, we are opening the world's first network of shared electric scooters. [applause]. >> there we go, we're back, okay, so before i tell you about our s*frs for san francisco, i want to introduce someone who has already made san francisco an even better place to live, mayor ed lee. there are two things about the

mayor's work and his administration that are particularly important to scoot, the first is that mayor lee is working hard to make this city an even better place to start and grow a new business, and second, he's been a toothless support of electric vehicles to improve san francisco's environment and the global environment as a whole so please welcome mayor ed lee. >> michael, matt, congratulations to scoot, yes. scoot and san francisco, well, let me first of all put this in some little perspective that i know, i know that we just announced last week, eb week in san francisco to the delight of so many people who want to just have modes of transportation, multiple modes of transportation in a city that are also environmentally friendly and to contribute that reducing our fossil fuels, we are in san francisco world

citizens after all and i know it's exciting for ed risken, our mta manager, he and i were excited to talk about different modes of transportation as we create all these exciting events to come to san francisco. i know it's exciting for board president david chiu, we tried to put pods for car sharing in neighborhoods on public streets and began in russian hill on his district, he's a vibrant, vibrant avid supporter of car sharing as i have been, i know ed riskens, well at the hub, knowing that that's an incubator for great ideas came the idea of scooter san francisco and the scooter network, and it's the latest contribution to an ongoing

conversation that board president chiu are having in this society, it really is when you come to automobile and or multiple modes of transportation sharing, scooter sharing is the latest contribution for people having access in our economy rather than just offered ownership and to me, that's really what wha* the shared economy is about and this great incubating idea of scooter sharing is wonderfulfinger these are all electric, you can power this up on 18 cents worth of power as compared to what gasoline prices are. it takes, if you want to go around the city at 30 miles an hour, it will be less than half of the power of a toaster. it's equivalent to 850 miles a

gallon to be on one of these electric scooters. i think it's safe, obviously we're going train people in the right way to abide but all the traffic regulations that we have, but as i sit in my car on days where i have to wait and 7, watch these scooters go by, it's kind of like where am i and what am i doing and can i contribute even more, so it's exciting to see this happen in san francisco, to see its launch, it's exciting that it's an idea that incubated out of the hub, it's exciting to not only see that it's fun for people to get around, to be more efficient and to kind of stralgts the lanes, but it's exciting to know it contributes so much of the goals of this city, the goals that i know our department environment is leading the effort and our city is leading the effort, the

board of supervisors working with my office to show case every opportunity we can to have alternative modes, and getting off of oil, it's going to be explained to you in simple terms how you get on these things but i'm so excited already, matt, or mike, that i am presenting to you my personal membership to the scooter network. alright. [applause]. >> there you go, thank you very much for starting here. >> thank you, mayor lee, this is a huge vote of confidence, we're happy to have your support. i would also like to introduce another leader of our city who is a fellow two-wheel rider, board president david chiu is a dedicated bike commuter, he knows how to share the streets of san francisco with different modes of transportation, he's a

tireless advocate for improving the transportation option sos we're happy, david to have you here supporting us in the opening of our public beta. >> good morning, is everyone ready to scoot? alright, thank you, michael, i am really excited to be part of this announcement for three reasons, first of all, san francisco, we need to be the leader in how we fight congestion, at this moment, we are the number 2 city in the country when it comes to congestion beside l.a., we have some serious issues we need to tackle and the neighborhoods we live in are the densest neighborhoods in the east coast, in the district, i have the densest neighborhoods in the city where one out of three residents do not own a car and as someone who doesn't own a car, two of my favorite modes of transit are car sharing and my bicycle, car sharing because it's convenient not to own a

car and my bicycle because it's easy to park, scoot allows you to pick up a bike when you need it but leave it and park it in ways that are easy and i want to thank michael and his team at scoot for innovating this, i'm excited about this for a second reason, we are the city of innovations and where great ideas start and continue, and as someone who ran a tech company, i'm excited that we have the best entrepreneurs, thinking about how the take a great idea and sell it to the rest of the world, the third reason i'm excited has to do something, and i'm going to call out to the chinese press that are here, this is an idea that came from michael's experience in china, he saw on the streets of cities he visited scooters everywhere, i can tell you as a kid of immigrants, every time i visit

taiwan, i don't get into the back of a car, i get on to a scooter, this is house people travel in densely populated cities, this is to bring a practice in parts of the world that even more dense than what we have here in san francisco and as american cities grow and become more populated, we're in that forefront to do it in a way that's safe, easy and economical and ensure that we are continuing to innovate our 21st century city, thank you for being here, i look forward the scooting with you on the roads. >> thank you, supervisor chiu, the transportation authority makes all modes of transportation possible in san francisco, and sfmta garage is one of our corner stone location partners for the launch of our public data, we're very happy to have director of the sfmta ed risken

here to say a couple of words at our launch. er >> thank you and good morning, as the city's transportation director, i have the privilege of managing the mta which is the agency in san francisco responsible for implementing the city's transit first policy. in order to implement that policy, there's two key things we need, we need strong leadership and innovation and what we're seeing today is the manifestation of just that in san francisco. what we need to do as the government and the transportation agency is make sure there are good choices available to people in terms of how they get around san francisco. we want people to feel like they don't need to get in their car, they don't want to get in their car, maybe like supervisor chiu and i, they don't own a car because there are other good options for them to get around san francisco and there are ways they can get around that aren't going to clog our streets with traffic or fill our air with pollution,

and i think scoot represents just one of those options and we're very happy to welcome them to san francisco, we're happy to do our small part in facilitating their launch here, i want to thank our director of off street parking manages all the mta parking garages and lots, we want to be through the management of those lots supportive of better ways to move around san francisco, cleaner ways to move around san francisco, so congratulations on your public launch, i look forward to seeing these red vehicles scooting around our streets safely and efficiently. thanks. [applause]. >> thank you, director. scoot isn't just a better way to get around the city, when we started scoot, we believed that giving people an alternative to driving could have huge benefits for the local and global environment, we're dieted that mel knee muter, the director of the san francisco department of the environment

is here with us in our opening of public beta in san francisco. >> good morning, everyone, it is an honor to be here for scoot's public announcement. this really does have great promise for helping to reduce carbon emissions in the city and county of san francisco. as some of you may know, about 40% of our carbon emissions in the city come from cars and trucks so we need to find alternatives for getting people out of their fossil fuel powered cars, this is going to be a great option for residences and businesses in san francisco to find an al -- an tern t*if, we're rolling out the electric vehicle infrastructure for cars so this is another electric vehicle option that we're happy to support. we also implement the commuter benefits program and help employers provide options to their employees for getting out of their cars, we're happy to

add scoot and electric plug in scooters for people to community in the city and county of san francisco, so i'm here to be in support, we look forward to expanding the options for individuals and residents and businesses in the city to help protect the environment. thank you very much. [applause]. >> thank you, director nut nut t*er, we are so lucky to be launching scoot in san francisco. this city has everything that we could hope for, san franciscans are the early adopters, they care about living healthier lifestyles and making the planet safer, and in our increasingly accelerated economy where every minute counts, they don't want to be waiting around for someone to pick them up and circling for parking, they want an option that's faster and more affordable and more convenient

and graenbacker greener and as we can see, our city's leadership feels the same way. we are today opening the world's first network of shared electric scooters that you can activate with your smart phone and your phone, it's not just a key to the scooters, it's really a key to the city, it brings everything in the city closer to you, it opens up new neighborhoods that you may not have gone to before and it makes the places you get to every day more fun to get to. for those of us who ride, life before scoot is sort of like life before mobile phones, once you have a short-cut to anywhere in the city in your pocket, you don't really want to go back, so we give you scoot, the world's first network of shared electric scooters and the perfect mode

of transportation for the city that leads the world in what's coming next. thank you. [applause]. >> alright. >> good morning, good morning, i am charlette shults and behalf of mayor lee, we welcome you to this occasion that we have been waiting for for six years because the mayor of paris, this occasion, we're excited that mayor delaware is here from paris, he was here six years ago and we have been meeting every air france flight since then waiting for you. so, the occasion has now come

and we are looking forward to the mayor looking around san francisco and seeing the changes that have been made. i don't know whether -- is willie brown here? he was the one who started this some 16 years ago, i think he would have turned in this beret in order to change jobs with the mayor of paris, having gone there so many times, we also have with us tom horn who is our chairman of our sister city committee which has many exchanges which we're going hear about more of them today, mayor lee, you have been mayor for almost two years, and as you know, the mayor of paris has been mayor for 11 years, and look how young he is, so there's hope for you. we have just had a meeting inside and the mate -- mayor

has made a promise which tom and i and matthew, we're going to make sure he keeps that promise and he says, next year, we're going to paris, so tom horn and i are going to be the advanced team, we're leaving with the mayor on a sunday when he goes back. so, may i introduce our mayor, a newer mayor than the mayor of paris but one we are proud of and we will be hoping that he is planning the trip very soon, so may i present mayor lee. [applause]. >> thank you, charlotte. >> well, thank you, everybody, for coming here today. as you can see, there was excitement in the air when the mayor of paris comes to san francisco and i want to welcome him, i want to welcome the council general office as well, this is an exciting moment for

me, waiting 6 years since his last visit is too long, not to renew a friendship to this city which has been historic friendship and one of the most dynamic sister city relationships that we have, i noticed in our room we have other numbers of our other sister cities, manila and gosh, there's so many, cork, and other regions that also -- and our other council generals that are here today, thank you so much for coming and frn council blats for enjoying this moment, there is a lot to be gained by our sister city and especially with paris, i was informing the mayor of my first trip to paris, it's been my only trip which is why i have to go officially, but that was 1969 was my very first trip to pear

ris as a high school student, as a high school choir of high school in seattle, we raised money all yearlong for us to go, i got to visit the jazz club along the river and then i got to hear for the very first time stevie wonder saying my shari amor in paris, look it up, that's why of course mayor dell way has invited me to be making my first official visit some time next year and certainly charlotte and tom and others have jumped on the occasion, matt and everybody else, but it is one of those relationships that i have understood as being one of the most porn -- important in the

city, one is an international status, one we hold dearly because there's a lot to learn, each of our cities as great as they are become greater as our goals of becoming environmentally responsible, creating our opportunity for our economies to fwroe and our dialog in our country is the urban cities that have to create the new jobs for the new economy. i know paris must do so as well, and if we work tokt, we can create those and instigate and innovate our new ideas for the new economy and our mutual obligations on the environment, and then there is something that paris and san francisco hold very dearly and that's an ongoing conversation about our human rights as world leaders, so it's human rights, it's the environment, it's the economy and these are the reasons why we hold our relationship with paris and with all the other great cities of the world in a

sister city relationship so dearly, we learn from each other, we send delegations to each other, we welcome each other to the city but in each and every instance, we are always thinking about ideas about how we can help each other and help regions improve, so i am excited to have met with the mayor just a few minutes ago to reaffirm our relationship and we'll sign that in a few moments to document that and to promise each other that we will continue this very great relationship and we could not have done it without the involvement of our private citizens, tom horn has led a fantastic group of volunteers on our sister city committee for paris and san francisco, and he's doing a marvelous job and this again reflects how our

citizenry helps our city become a better city with these sister city relationships and again i want to thank you and the audience too who are volunteers in our -- i really, really thank you from the bottom of my heart for creating such a great part of our soul of our cities, and giving us the reasons why we can be an international city, so with that, welcome, mayor, and i look forward to not only signing the semlu, and our visits of our various government officials as well as private citizens to continue instigating wonderful ideas and implementing ideas, and with that, i would like to present to you on behalf of our city and to the mayor -- >> as everybody knows, we did have our 77th anniversary of

the golden gate bridge, not quite as old as some of the things in paris, and so this is a set of prints, there's many of them. >> oh, i love the golden gate. >> so beautiful. >> celebrating our 77th anniversary. >> so, we give you this, in order the take it home, you have to walk across the bridge. [laughter]. >> i can do it. [laughter]. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> of course, our pleasure. >> yes, dear friends, i'm very

happy to be back in san francisco because charlotte waits for me. [laughter]. >> i [inaudible] charlotte and i don't go in san francisco six years ago, so my english is very bad, and i am going to speak french. (speaking french). >> i'm very happy to be here again. first of all, because san francisco and paris are both very great cities, american and french cities and i cannot think with great emotion that between the american people and the french people, history has given us the best of the

friendships and our time tokt together, it called freedom, democracy, to the dignity of all human people, and certainly san francisco and paris are an emblem of the link that exists between the french and the american people. there's something very magical about san francisco, the golden gate that i know now well, but there's a style of life, there's an art of life, there's a way of living together but being different and respecting the freedom of each other. the other privilege for paris is we've always played a role to create a very rich and

strong relationship between the two cities, but also a very useful one. [inaudible] in the past with [inaudible], the foundations of this agreement [inaudible] and i will see later on my good friends who a couple of years ago told me that he was going to celebrate his birthday in paris and he would want toez personal happy moments that he would spend a moment in city hall where i would open the doors in this symbol of this human tie of this individual adventure that exists so much between paris and san francisco. i have -- charlotte was a sweet

person, she reminded me i was old and i was in paris now for 11 years, i had the opportunity to work with my great friend, thanks to tom horn, that's in the [inaudible] that this working relationship and eternal relationship with tom, so with the team amongst mr. lee, i could understand that the relationship between san francisco and paris is not just a friendship, it could be a very efficient relationship and i will have the pleasure tomorrow to visit various places where there's a common dynamic between paris and san francisco have made innovations, technology and the spirit of

enterprise and all those elements together enable a concrete relationship between paris and san francisco and even remember it last time, with had a virtual highway between san francisco and paris, we started this virtual highway, it had a lot of babies and a lot of [inaudible] in paris and in san francisco was created, were developed from this common belief that we had in innovation, in research and with the need of building economic development on new technology, on new ways of living and creating wealth and progress of the 21st century. and it's in this spirit that with [inaudible]