The Los Angeles City Council kept moving forward Friday on a framework of regulations for the dockless electric scooter industry, voting in favor of an ordinance that would create an official pilot program.
The council's 10-1 vote in favor of the ordinance did not come as a surprise, as the heavy debate on the issue occurred earlier this month when its members hashed out the proposed guidelines for the ordinance and sent them to the Office of the City Attorney to be drafted. Councilman Paul Koretz, who has been raising concerns about the safety devices, was the lone vote in opposition to the program.
"Making it legal doesn't make it safe. I still doubt whether these can operate appropriately," Koretz said.
The ordinance will need to be voted on again in a week to reach final approval, as at least 12 votes are required on a first vote for an ordinance to be passed.
The one-year pilot program would not just apply to scooters, but to any shared mobility devices, and would cap the number of devices to 3,000 per company, with the opportunity to field more if they are placed in disadvantaged communities.
The program would also allow any company to apply for a conditional use permit of up to 3,000 in the interim 120 days before the pilot program becomes active.
After demonstrating compliance with program requirements and meeting certain performance criteria, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation can allow companies to increase their fleet size, but the program does not specify a cap on such expansion.
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The dockless Lime and Bird scooters have proliferated in Westside communities over the last year, leaving local governments scrambling with how to regulate them. The city of Beverly Hills recently banned them for six months, while Santa Monica last month created a 16-month pilot program which caps the number of scooters allowed on the streets.
The scooters work through a phone app that allows people to find and unlock the devices and drop them off anywhere they are allowed, with no docking station or kiosk required.
The council also approved a top speed of the scooters of 15 mph, which is the speed already offered by Bird and Lime.
The new regulations require companies to equip the scooters with a minimum 48-point font warning against riding on sidewalks. Companies also must maintain a 24-hour hotline and respond to improperly parked or inoperable devices within two hours, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
In the future, operators will be required to use technology that can tell if a device is parked upright. They city may also designate parking areas for the devices in high-traffic areas.
