OLD BUSINESS  4.

COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

KEY INTENDED OUTCOME:
Ensure Comprehensive Mobility Addressing All Modes Throughout The City

HISTORY:
Since 2011, the City has provided its residents and visitors with a bicycle sharing service through a contract with Citibike. As part of this contract, Citibike provides approximately 1,000 bicycles which can be rented at any of its 100 stations or "docks" strategically and conveniently located throughout the City. The contract also provides revenue to the City through a revenue sharing agreement with Citibike. For fiscal year 2017/18, for example, the total amount of revenue provided to the City through the revenue share agreement with Citibike was approximately $574,000. Citibike is currently working to secure a three-year sponsorship contract extension and expects the extension will be secured within 90 days. The City's contract with Citibike currently provides for deployment of standard human-powered bicycles which require the user to pedal. Citibike also provides docked bicycle sharing services for the City of Miami.

In the last few years, however, the popularity and use of electric-assisted bicycles in the U.S. has grown and more people are using electric-assisted bikes as a more convenient means of active transportation. While no cities in Miami-Dade County are currently providing an electric-assisted docked bicycle sharing services, the County has recently executed a contract with "Ride On", a provider of electric-assisted docked bicycle sharing services. The contract between Miami-Dade County and Ride On allows for the provision of electric-assisted bicycles on County-owned facilities (such as transit stations, courts, libraries, etc.) and County rights-of-way. While there are only a couple of County-owned facilities in Miami Beach, there are a few roadways in the City which are under the jurisdiction of Miami-Dade County (i.e., Venetian Causeway, Dade Boulevard, Pine Tree Drive, La Gorce Drive, and 23 Street). Thus, pursuant to the County's contract with Ride-On, electric-assisted bicycles can be deployed by Ride-On within the rights-of-way of the aforementioned streets in the City on an immediate basis.

This discussion item was referred at the October 17, 2018 City Commission meeting by Commissioner Ricky Arriola to the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee (NCAC). At the November 30, 2018 NCAC meeting, the Committee requested that the Administration explore the potential of deploying a pilot program, possibly as a partnership between Citibike and Ride On, and to research the potential use of the existing bike lanes in the City.

On February 11, 2019, the Transportation, Parking and Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee discussed this item and passed the following motion: "The TPBPFC recommends that the City enter into conversations with the existing company the City has for bicycle sharing (Citibike), as they have provided good service throughout their contract with the City." This motion was transmitted to the Mayor and City Commission via LTC # 084-2019.

This item was subsequently discussed at the May 20, 2019 NCAC meeting. At the meeting, the Administration recommended pursuing a pilot program in partnership with Citibike via an amendment to the current agreement; however, the NCAC recommended that the Administration come back to NCAC and present a vision and preliminary plan for an electric-assist bicycle sharing pilot program, including the number of electric-assist bicycles to be deployed and potential locations, gather research from independent organizations on the effectiveness of electric-assisted bicycles, other cities' experiences with these devices (including safety issues), and potential financial implications.

ANALYSIS:
Over the past several months, City staff has met with both Citibike and Ride On representatives to gauge their interest in a joint electric-assisted bicycle pilot initiative using existing Citibike docking stations in order to minimize or avoid the addition of new stations and potentially other infrastructure in the City's right-of-way. Unfortunately, the two vendors have not been able to reach a joint venture arrangement.

USE OF EXISTING BIKE LANES AND SIDEWALKS
The City Attorney's Office has researched this issue and opined that if a bicycle meets the definition and statutory requirements established by state law (F.S. 316.003(4)) and City Code (Chapter 70), it can be legally operated on existing on-street bike lanes, vehicular travel lanes, and sidewalks (except those sidewalks on Ocean Drive located between South Pointe Drive and 15th Street). Electric-assisted bicycles may meet the requirements of state and local laws as per below.

F.S. 316.003(4) defines a bicycle as follows: "Every vehicle propelled solely by human power, and every motorized bicycle propelled by a combination of human power and an electric helper motor capable of propelling the vehicle at a speed of not more than 20 miles per hour on level ground upon which any person may ride, having two tandem wheels, and including any device generally recognized as a bicycle though equipped with two front or two rear wheels. The term does not include such a vehicle with a seat height of no more than 25 inches from the ground when the seat is adjusted to its highest position or a scooter or similar device. A person under the age of 16 may not operate or ride upon a motorized bicycle."

Both state law and Chapter 70 of the City Code have established a definition for motorized bicycle which specifies that it shall have both functional pedals and an electric helper motor. Both state law and the City Code further establish a maximum operating speed of 20 MPH for such motorized bicycles.

PROCUREMENT OPTIONS
Staff vetted several procurement options described below.

1. Piggyback on County’s contract with Ride On.

Pursuant to the NCAC's request, Procurement Department staff reviewed the current contract between Ride On and Miami-Dade County and determined that the contract does not allow for a "piggyback" and is therefore not available for use by the City.

2. Waive competitive bidding requirements to procure a pilot with Ride On.

While there is a benefit in having a single vendor providing docked electric-assist bike sharing services countywide, the Administration does not recommend waiving competitive bidding in order to procure Ride On for these services given that other electric-assisted bicycle vendors have also reached out to City staff recently to express an interest in providing these services. In addition, Ride On’s deployment of electric-assisted bicycle sharing services in Miami-Dade County is very limited at this time (available at only a couple of transit stations). Other than in City of Miami, Ride On does not have any similar services currently in operation in the U.S. and staff has not been able to verify their experience with similar programs in other countries, thus, this option is not recommended.

3. Amend the City's contract with Citibike (no bid waiver required).
The City's current contract with Citibike includes a provision for additional services, which would not require a bid waiver and could include providing electric-assisted bicycles as part of the current bicycle sharing program.

Advantage:
• Allows Citibike to continue utilizing their existing docking stations in the City and minimize or eliminate the need to install additional docking stations and impact additional on-street parking spaces.

Disadvantage:
• Citibike does not currently operate an electric-assisted bicycle sharing program in the U.S. However, Citibike has stated that they could provide electric-assisted bicycles in the City and it would take about three to four months to establish the program.

4. Issue a competitive solicitation for procurement of a docked electric-assisted bicycle sharing program as a pilot program.

Advantages:
• Given the multiple vendors that are currently providing electric-assisted bicycle sharing programs in cities across the U.S., this option can offer the greatest flexibility to the City in terms of engaging a vendor with demonstrated proven experience in the provision of these services.

• The solicitation can include specific criteria and parameters to ensure the selected proposer has the proven experience to provide a technology that minimizes sidewalk clutter and illegal placement or dumping of bicycles, while maximizing user convenience and revenues to the City.

Disadvantage:
• Unless a joint venture is reached, if a vendor other than Citibike is selected, implementation may require the installation of additional infrastructure, including docking stations, potential removal of on-street parking spaces, and/or impacts to sidewalks since the existing Citibike docking stations are designed to only accommodate Citibike bicycles. As an alternative, some existing Citibike stations may need to be removed if the technologies are not compatible.

The Administration recommends option 4 (issuing a competitive solicitation) to give the City the most flexibility in tailoring a pilot program with a limited scope and scale suitable to the City. For example, the pilot program could consist of approximately 50 electric-assisted bicycles (i.e. 5% of the current Citibike inventory in the City) placed at strategic locations throughout the City. An electronic user survey during the pilot program would be valuable in ascertaining the type of trip taken (work, recreational, school, etc.) and if that trip was previously taken using another mode (conventional bicycle, car, rideshare, transit, other) as well as to determine the effectiveness of the pilot program in terms of providing a viable first mile/last mile option and reducing vehicular trips in the City.

SAFETY
The only safety issue of which staff is aware involved a recent case in which some electric-assisted bicycles from a particular vendor, Motivate, which is currently owned by Lyft, were removed from the streets of New York City, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose Bay area in California, and Washington D.C. as a result of reported accidents caused by a brake malfunction of the bicycles. Based on staff’s research, the defective bicycles are being replaced and Motivate/Lyft remains in operation in other cities in the U.S.

DOCKED VS DOCKLESS USAGE IN OTHER CITIES
According to the National Alliance of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), in general, cities with robust docked bicycle sharing programs report higher daily ridership than cities with robust dockless programs. Conversely, in smaller cities with small start-up programs, dockless programs perform better than docked programs. Given the NACTO statistic and Miami Beach’s established and robust docked bicycle sharing program, we can surmise that our current Citibike ridership is higher than what it would be as a dockless system. Pricing structures also play a role in these ridership statistics as dockless programs generally have a higher fee than docked programs.

CONCLUSION:
The City is moving towards becoming a more bicycle-friendly city through the implementation of various bicycle facilities and enhancements recommended in the adopted 2016 Transportation Master Plan and Bicycle-Pedestrian Master Plan. Both master plans as well as the City's adopted Modal Hierarchy, prioritize bicycles as a mode of transportation for residents and visitors, particularly in terms of providing efficient first mile/last mile connections.

Electric-assisted bicycles could serve as a more convenient means of bicycle transportation for users as compared to the standard pedal-power bicycles currently provided by Citibike.

The Administration believes that issuing a competitive solicitation for a pilot program would be in the City’s best interest as it will allow several vendors offering innovative technologies to compete, thus enabling the City to select the technology that would be most suitable to our highly urbanized, pedestrian environment. Should the NCAC recommend this option, the Administration intends to present a competitive solicitation to the City Commission for approval at its October meeting.