Lincoln City Council:
Bird Rides, Inc. E-scooters to be permitted in Lincoln

 

[March 03, 2021] 

At the first voting session meeting of the Lincoln City Council for March, aldermen approved by unanimous vote a request from Bird Rides, Inc. to allow E-scooters as an alternate means of transportation within the city limits.

The stand and drive electric scooters resemble those that are considered for recreational purposes for youngsters and young adults are becoming a popular mode of transportation in metropolitan areas. The concept for the scooters is that a person needing a temporary mode of transportation for a short distance may rent the scooter via an app on their cell phone. The scooter is ‘unlocked’ and the rider may utilize it to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ unassisted. When the rider arrives at his or her destination, the scooter is then locked again and cannot be ridden until it is once again unlocked through the app. If a scooter is used and remains at the destination point, at the end of the day a representative of the company will collect the scooter.

The request to allow Bird Rides to operate within the city of Lincoln was brought to the city council at the February 16th voting session. On that night there was no action item on the agenda for the scooters, but rather a discussion item.

Upon the introduction of the topic, aldermen appeared to be reluctant to allow the scooters in the city limits. There were a number of concerns, most revolving around safety and public nuisance issues. Both Police Chief Paul Adams and City Attorney John Hoblit voiced concerns about safety and liability to the city.

Aldermen on that first night of discussion also talked about who would utilize the scooters, where they would be driven, and how the police department would handle situations such as operating the scooter under the influence. Because the scooters do not necessarily require a valid driver’s license, could an operator be arrested for DUI?

When the topic came to the Wednesday, February 24th Committee of the Whole meeting, Hoblit talked first about some of the research he has done on the scooters in relation to liability to the city.

He said that he had not found any incidents where a municipality had suffered losses in lawsuits. At the same time, he said there had been lawsuits, namely personal injury suits filed in Chicago.

Hoblit also shared that in 2019 House Bill 1590 was introduced in Springfield. However, with the pandemic crisis the bill had gone to the wayside for the time being. In HB1590 the scooters would be permitted on bike paths and could be operated by people as young as 16.

Hoblit said that there are no helmet laws in Illinois and the reports he has seen say most injuries related to the scooters are head injuries.

Of the reported injuries, 10 percent are operators under the age of 16 and five percent involve intoxicated drivers. Hoblit also said that the reports showed that there were 50 reported injuries per 100,000 rides.

Michael Cavato with Bird Rides, Inc. was on the phone during that meeting and addressed some of the concerns of the council.

He said that Bird provided a Memorandum of Understanding with the city that offered risk indemnification. He said that the city of Lincoln could also be added as an additional covered on the Bird insurance policies.

Cavato said that Bird encourages the use of helmets with the scooters and has a “helmet safety selfie’ campaign on social media.

For new riders, the scooters are locked at six miles per hour maximum operating speed to help protect the rider from serious injury in a mishap. Cavato said that the scooters are also locked at midnight every night. Between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m. a scooter cannot be activated, which Cavato said helped control the incidents of driving under the influence.

Cavato said the intent of the company was to start with a small fleet in Lincoln, between 50 and 75 scooters. Controlling the number available would help address concerns about public nuisance with the scooters being left in downtown locations.

Steve Parrott had asked about the cost of renting the scooters. Cavato said that on the average a ride would cost the user between $4 and $5. The rate will be $1 to unlock the scooter then a “per minute” rate for the time it is unlocked.

Parrot said the cost would be similar to a taxi ride, so what was the benefit of the scooter. Cavato said the riders would be out in the fresh air, not exposed to germs in the taxi and would have complete control over the route they took.

Acting Mayor Tracy Welch said that his concern was for the usage of the scooters in high traffic, and higher speed areas. He said he would want “geo fencing” on the main thoroughfares where speed limits were higher. Specifically he spoke about the traffic and speed limit of 45 mph in the city’s west side.

At the March 1st meeting of the council, Hoblit addressed the council prior to the motion explaining the document aldermen would be considering. He said that he had added sections on area of operation and speed as well as other considerations for the council.

Cavato was also on the phone during the meeting and said that he was also addressing the concern about speed of operation and that scooters would be set to travel no more than 15 mph.

Welch called for a motion which was made by Parrott and seconded by Ron Keller.

During the discussion period, Kevin Bateman said he would like to amend the motion and the document prepared by Hoblit to read specifically that the agreement was with Bird Rides Inc. He said he didn’t want to open the city up to multiple companies coming to town with their E-scooters. It would also then not allow any other types of scooters in the city as well.

Jeff Hoinacki said that he was wondering if the city had set a start date for Bird. His concern was that the E-scooters might arrive in town before the city had everything worked out for the usage of the rides in town.

Welch also added to the conversation that the city could control who came to town via its permitting process. Parrott asked if the city could limit the number of permits allowed for the scooters.

Hoblit said that he was also figuring that there would be additional amendments and rules established. He said that what the council was voting on now was only the first step in the process.

Hoblit said that in his draft he had set the operator age limit at 16 according to the pending house bill. However, Bird specified 18 years of age. He thought the city might want to amend that also.

Welch brought the discussion to a close with the amendments made according to recommendations by Bateman and Hoblit. There is also an understanding that while the motion was approved, the city is not yet ready to allow Bird to bring in the scooters.

When Welch called for the vote, all eight aldermen were present and voted in favor of allowing Bird Rides to operate an E-scooter rental service in Lincoln.

As of this week, there is still work to be done to outline the usage of the scooters, create a permit structure as well as addressing geo fencing and other physical issues. The scooters, which are for seasonal usage, and not rented out in the winter months, will possibly not be available in Lincoln until later this year.

[Nila Smith]