| | | | | | | | | TO: | Neighborhood and Quality of Life Committee Members |
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| FROM:
| Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
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| | DATE: | July 15, 2020
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| | SUBJECT: | DISCUSSION REGARDING THE INTEREST OF THE COMMISSION IN OPERATING ELECTRIC SCOOTERS AT ALL AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A FUTURE PILOT PROGRAM |
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| | | | | | | | HISTORY:
| This item was referred to the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee (NCAC) by Commissioner Michael Gongora at the July 25, 2018 City Commission meeting. At its September 26, 2018 meeting, the NCAC directed the Administration to monitor the e-scooter pilot programs in Miami-Dade County and research the use of bike lanes for e-scooters. The item has been deferred on subsequent NCAC agendas pending the outcome of the pilot programs in other cities and a bill in the Florida Legislature.
The item was further deferred to the October 23, 2019 NCAC meeting pending discussion by the Transportation, Parking and Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee (TPBPFC), and subsequently to the December 18, 2019 NCAC meeting to allow for the City of Miami pilot program to terminate and inform the Committee’s discussion.
Pursuant to the Committee’s request, TPBPFC discussed electric scooters at its October 7, 2019 meeting and passed a motion in support of an electric scooter share program, with certain limitations (Attachment A).
In the last few years, the popularity and use of electric scooters (e-scooters) in the U.S. has grown and more people are using electric scooters as a more convenient means of active transportation that can provide first mile/last mile connectivity to/from transit stops and an alternative to walking or biking for short-range trips.
Recent surveys conducted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that the vast majority of respondents would choose to use mobility devices, such as scooters, bikes, or mopeds, as an alternative to transit or rideshare during the pandemic.
State Law
Given the popularity and growing use of electric scooters as a mobility device, the Florida Legislature passed House Bill 453/Senate Bill 542 governing electric scooters. The new law has created a definition for the term “micromobility device” and has revised the definition for the term motorized scooter to include any vehicle or micromobility device (irrespective of whether it has a seat or saddle for the use of the rider), which is designed to travel on not more than three wheels, and is powered by a motor not capable of propelling the vehicle at a speed greater than 20 miles per hour on level ground.
The operator of this device is not required to satisfy the registration or insurance requirements set forth in Florida Statute Section 320.02, nor is such a device operator required to have a driver’s license to operate such vehicles. Additionally, the operators of these devices are not required to satisfy the licensing requirements identified in Florida Statute Section 316.605, and these scooters are also excluded from the additional equipment requirements for slow-moving vehicles, as delineated in Florida Statute Section 316.2225.
Moreover, operators of these devices have all the rights and duties of a bicycle rider which includes the operation of such vehicles on streets, in bike lanes, and on sidewalks. However, a local government may exercise its regulatory authority and adopt an ordinance with respect to the operation of e-scooters on streets, highways, sidewalks and sidewalk areas under a local government’s jurisdiction.
City Code
Pursuant to Section 70-70.2 of the City Code, motorized scooters, including e-scooters, may only be rented/leased in Miami Beach if they are to be operated exclusively on private property. Additionally, the City of Miami Beach deems motorized scooters to be a “motorized means of transportation” and, consequently, the use of motorized scooters is further limited by various provisions of the City Code (including Sections 70-67 and 70-69), which prohibit the use of motorized scooters in those areas including, but not limited to, Lincoln Road Mall, the Beachwalk, the Lummus Park Promenade, and any sidewalk in the City.
Furthermore, pursuant to Section 70-41 of the City Code, the City prohibits the outdoor storage of such electric scooters, by specifying that no merchandise shall be exhibited, stored or kept outside the physical confines of a store. Section 70-41 also specifies that goods and merchandise are specifically prohibited from being placed in any sidewalk, public areaway, public thoroughfare or other similar location.
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| | | | | | | | ANALYSIS
| The cities of Coral Gables and Miami are the only two municipalities in Miami-Dade County that have pilot programs for electric scooter rental and operation in the public rights-of-way, as described below. In mid-March, Miami-Dade County issued Emergency Order 05-20 temporarily banning electric scooters from operating in the County, due to risk of spreading novel coronavirus as devices may not be routinely cleaned. At that time, both the City of Miami and Coral Gables suspended their operation.
City of Coral Gables
Coral Gables became the first city in Florida to allow electric scooters to operate on sidewalks. Coral Gables has been engaged in a e-scooter pilot program at no cost to the City with two vendors simultaneously - Spin (since August 2018) and Bird (since October 2018). The cost to the user to rent an electric scooter from either Spin or Bird is $1.00 to unlock the e-scooter and $0.15 per minute until the e-scooter is locked and the trip is closed.
Prior to the passing of the new state law, electric scooters in Coral Gables were not allowed to operate on travel lanes or bike lanes and could only be operated on sidewalks, except on Miracle Mile and Giralda Avenue where they are prohibited due to high pedestrian activity. Scooters were deployed daily by each vendor at about 7AM and collected at about 8PM. Coral Gables had requested that users park e-scooters at or near a bike rack and on the edge of sidewalks clear of pedestrians' path.
Coral Gables has advised that the number of complaints and accidents involving electric scooters is minimal in comparison to their usage. For example, in February 2019, Bird reported that it had deployed 73 electric scooters in Coral Gables, primarily near the University of Miami campus and Douglas Metrorail station, and a total of 19,833 trips were registered on its electric scooters during the pilot program which ended in January 2019. The average trip length on a Bird electric scooter was about 1.15 miles and no accidents reported accidents as of end of January 2019. In February 2019, Spin reported that it had deployed 79 electric scooters in Coral Gables, primarily in the Central Business District, and registered a total of 19,906 trips on its electric scooters during the pilot program, which also ended in January 2019. The average trip length on a Spin electric scooter was about 0.93 miles. In February 2019, Spin reported five accidents and no injuries as of end of January 2019. More recent data was not available.
Since the inception of its pilot programs, Coral Gables has received few complaints from its residents and businesses with regard to electric scooters blocking the sidewalks or pedestrian pathways, speeding on the sidewalks, or being dumped illegally on private property. Coral Gables considers both pilot programs to be successful and has extended the pilot programs with both vendors (although currently suspended due to the County’s Emergency Order prohibiting shared electronic mobility devices during the Covid-19 pandemic). Coral Gables plans to issue a competitive solicitation which would result in two selected vendors to provide shared e-scooter services on a long-term basis with a cap to be placed on the number of electric scooters allowed to operate (currently 150). While Coral Gables has not collected fees in the past, its new solicitation may require a per device per day fee payment from the vendors to be selected.
City of Miami
In March 2019, pursuant to a competitive solicitation, City of Miami initiated a six-month pilot program with six qualified vendors for electric scooter rentals within City Commission District 2, which includes Wynwood, Midtown, Downtown, Brickell, and Coconut Grove. The City of Miami adopted an ordinance for the e-scooter pilot program and potential long-term implementation, which, among other things, established rules and regulations for riding, operating, and parking e-scooters on streets and sidewalks; provided for insurance and indemnification; and established penalties and fines.
As part of the application process, each vendor was required to remit to the City a non-refundable licensing fee of $50,000 intended to offset the City's cost of police, parking, and code enforcement within the pilot program area. Any excess funds from the licensing fee were to be used to fund sidewalk and street improvements within the pilot program area. Further, each vendor participating in the pilot program was required to remit to the City a fee of $1.00 per scooter per day. The funds were to be used to fund street and sidewalk improvements within the pilot program area. While the City of Miami initially allowed each vendor to deploy only 50 e-scooters, companies were able to request an increase in fleet size based on meeting daily average operating threshold of three rides per scooter per day. Pursuant to City of Miami Ordinance No.13862 adopted on September 26, 2019 and Resolution No. 19-0520 adopted on December 12, 2019, the pilot program was extended to February 14, 2020.
As of January 2020, there were 3,857 approved scooters deployed amongst eight vendors at any one time within District 2. From the onset of the pilot program through January 2020, the City of Miami collected approximately $1.25 million in revenue from the vendors’ application fees and daily scooter fees. During the same period, a total of 1,885,791 rides were completed using electric scooters.
In September 2019, the City of Miami issued “Shared Motorized Scooters Pilot Program Interim Report” (Attachment B) which provided an overview of the first four months of the pilot program (April through July 2019). Based on that report, the average trip length was 1.4 miles, average duration of ride was 14.5 minutes, and average speed was 5.3 mph. From a mode-shift perspective, it is unclear if e-scooters are reducing vehicular trips or simply replacing walking trips. During the same period, City of Miami Fire Rescue responded to 28 alarms involving scooters. Of these, 19 required transportation to local hospitals and none resulted in life-threatening injuries or fatalities.
At its February 13, 2020 meeting, the City of Miami City Commission discussed extending the electric scooter pilot program for an additional six months until September 1, 2020 to allow the Administration time to develop and issue a competitive solicitation for a permanent e-scooter program in District 2. After discussion, the City Commission approved a two-month extension only. In the forthcoming RFP, the number of scooters is to be reduced to 2,499 with fleet increases only allowed if vendor(s) exceeds four rides per scooter per day.
In early 2020, the City of Miami ceased granting fleet increases to vendors as data suggested the optimal terminal fleet size had been reached or exceeded. This data helped inform what the ideal overall fleet size will be if/when the City implements a permanent e-scooter program.
Ultimately, the County’s Emergency Order issued in March 2020 suspending all shared micromobility operations effectively paused the City of Miami’s e-scooter pilot program as of April 15, 2020.
Other Cities’ Experiences
Despite the success of e-scooters in the cities of Coral Gables and Miami (as well as other cities across the U.S and the world), many other cities have had negative experiences with these devices and banned them altogether or in high-pedestrian areas. Issues and complaints consistently involve illegal parking, sidewalk clutter, lack of vendor enforcement, careless driving. Some accidents have resulted in serious injuries and fatalities. For example, in June 2019 after a fatality, Fort Lauderdale banned e-scooters and e-bikes on popular gathering spots, including the beach, Riverwalk, and Las Olas. Shared scooters are currently prohibited in Manhattan but will be allowed in the remaining boroughs of New York City as part of a pilot program. Chicago is pursuing a second pilot program as its first pilot did not provide clear results on the effectiveness. Nashville considered banning scooters in 2019 after a fatality but later voted to keep them with stricter rules. Similarly, San Francisco banned its pilot program in 2018 and then reinstated it in 2019 with stricter rules and compliance. Los Angeles is in the midst of a one-year pilot program and similar programs are underway in Long Beach and Santa Monica; however, in these cities, electric mobility devices are not allowed on the beachwalks.
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| | | | | | | | CONCLUSION:
While dockless e-scooters are eco-friendly and very popular in many cities across the U.S. and the world, from an operational, safety and enforcement perspective, the Administration continues to have concerns regarding issues related to operational safety, sidewalk clutter, illegal placement and dumping of dockless devices and the enforcement required. Given the high level of pedestrian activity on many sidewalks in Miami Beach, at a minimum, the Administration would not recommend authorizing the use of these devices on sidewalks in high pedestrian areas such as South Beach, along beachwalks and baywalks, and in areas where other motorized mobility devices are currently prohibited by City ordinance. Thus, an e-scooter pilot program in the City would likely be limited to use on travel lanes and/or bike lanes where available. E-scooters would need to park on sidewalks, unless an alternative approach, such as geo-fenced scooter corrals, is explored. Enforcement is expected to be challenging unless strict performance penalty fees are assessed as part of any resulting contract with a vendor, even on a pilot basis.
From a revenue-share potential, a shared e-scooter pilot program can have financial benefit to the City as it has had in other cities, including in the City of Miami where its robust pilot program has generated $1.25 million of revenue to the City to date.
While many users have stated that they would prefer to use shared mobility devices in the midst of a pandemic instead of public transit or rideshare, Miami-Dade County has temporarily banned e-scooters, among other shared mobility devices, as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic, pursuant to Miami-Dade County Executive Order 05-20. It is not known when the County will lift the current ban..
From a legal perspective, should the City Commission desire to initiate a public e-scooter sharing pilot program, an amendment to the City Code is required given this type of program is currently prohibited by City Code.
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| | | | | | | | | Is this a "Residents Right to Know" item, pursuant to City Code Section 2-14? | | Does this item utilize G.O. Bond Funds? | | | No | | No | |
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| | | | | | | | Strategic Connection
| | Mobility - Increase multi-modal mobility citywide and connectivity regionally. |
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