Scooter rental companies are at the mercy of cities

Dust off those electric scooter rental apps. Three new companies are offering battery-powered rides on San Francisco streets.

Tuesday was the first day Lime and Spin e-scooters were allowed back in SF — ironically the headquarters for both companies — along with an inaugural debut for e-scooters from Uber-owned Jump and a renewed permit for Bird-owned scooter company Scoot.

Another San Francisco-based scooter company, Skip, had been operating in SF for the past year with Scoot, but did not pass muster for a second year of scooting.