GDOT Annual Report 2019

B I K E S & P E D E S T R I A N S

City Adopts Scooter Pilot Program

traveled more than 150,000 combined miles. GDOT is now in the process of evaluating operational and safety data from the scooters and making recommendations on next steps. We expect to make recommendations to City Council on any ordinance or programmatic changes later this year.

Bird and Lime Scooters in Greensboro

Average Average

Total Miles

Ride

Ride

Over the past year, Greensboro has witnessed the emergence of a new form of transportation called micro-mobility. Across the country, cities like Greensboro have seen the sudden deployment of new electric stand-up scooters that are operated by private companies and can be unlocked and paid for through a smart phone app. While the scooters ofer the promise of a fexible transportation option, there have also been safety and operational concerns. After their arrival last summer, Greensboro Department of Transportation (GDOT), in coordination with the Police and Legal departments, had them removed from City right-of-way last while we developed recommendations for City Council to regulate their use. In November, GDOT presented recommended ordinance changes to City Council to regulate the safe operation of standup electric scooters in the City. The approved ordinance allowed the scooter companies to operate with a permit from the City. The ordinance created a $500 permit fee and $50 fee per scooter. It included key safety requirements, such as prohibition of operation on sidewalks, in parking decks, or on streets with speed limits greater than 35 miles per hour. After reviewing applications from interested companies, Lime and Bird were selected to participate in a pilot permit process through August 1. Since that time, there have been more than 150,000 scooter rides that have

Rides

(minutes) (miles)

Bird

47,000

69,000

21 min

1.5

Lime 109,000

88,000

6 min

0.5

Total 156,000 157,000

11 min

0.8

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