Want to ride that electric scooter on the sidewalk? It will soon cost you more than just the respect of your fellow Cincinnatians.
City of Cincinnati administration issued guidelines earlier this year for electric scooters after dockless scooter rental company Bird descended on Cincinnati unannounced in late July. Lime, another scooter rental company, joined the fray soon afterward.
One of the main guidelines the city suggested? Don’t ride the motorized scooters on the sidewalks.
Cincinnati City Council Sept. 19 gave final approval to an ordinance making that guideline more than just a firm suggestion. The legislation calls for fines of $100 to anyone who gets caught riding on the sidewalks. Cincinnati has long had a prohibition against riding bicycles on the sidewalk, although it is rarely enforced.
Other cities have taken stricter measures against the scooter companies, sometimes kicking them out of town temporarily or permanently after complaints about wayward scooters left piled in high-traffic areas and dustups between pedestrians and scooterers (scootees?). Most Cincinnati City Council members say they welcome the scooters, but also say they want to make sure riders are using them safely.
At least one person has reported taking a trip to an urgent care facility after a rider hit her with a scooter downtown.
It’s unclear what sort of enforcement measures the city will take, but Bird, Lime and other potential scooter companies operating in Cincinnati may need to share some of the burden in keeping riders off sidewalks.
Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld says as technology companies operating scooters with geolocation equipment, Bird and Lime should be able to pinpoint which riders were involved in incidents that caused injury to others. For both scooters, a rider must scan their photo ID to ride.
“The City Administration is also exploring additional contract requirements to ensure that e-scooter companies also help to prevent and deter riding of e-scooters on the sidewalk and ensure generally safe operation,” a memo about the legislation from acting Cincinnati City Manager Patrick Duhaney reads.
This article appears in Sep 12-19, 2018.
