The city of Columbus is finally laying down the law regarding scooters.
After a bit of a “wild, wild, west” period with scooters zooming by every few minutes, the city has finally started imposing regulations.
According to 10TV, here are the rules companies offering scooter sharing services must abide by:
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“Companies seeking to offer shared mobility devices for public use must obtain permits from the department to operate in the city. A maximum of eight companies at any one time may offer their products in the city.
The devices must be parked in an upright position and cannot be parked in the vehicle portions of the street, including parking spots and loading zones. They also cannot be parked in doorways, and they cannot block pedestrians on sidewalks or curb ramps, fire escapes, inside bus shelters, in driveways or on unauthorized private property or unapproved non-public spaces.
The city of Columbus may designate parking/staging spots for the devices in the city to assist with keeping order in the public’s right of way.
Each company that receives a permit to offer shared mobility devices in the city is limited to offering up to 500 devices. The director of public service has the authority to increase this number based on demand and usage. The devices offered must not be able to go faster than 15 MPH.
Companies offering shared mobility devices are required to educate riders on responsible and legal use of their devices.
Companies offering shared mobility devices must deploy at least some of devices in neighborhoods outside of the central business district as designated by the office of the mayor.
Companies offering shared mobility devices must put in place access to the service for those without credit cards.
Companies with existing operations will have 30 days to come into compliance.”
“Shared mobility devices present a mobility option that can fill a need in Columbus, if handled appropriately,” said Mayor Andrew Ginther. “I tasked our Department of Public Service to come up with common-sense guidelines to manage right of way concerns as a first step to a thorough and thoughtful plan that works in our city.”
The scooters have proven quite the headache for other municipalities. While it may seem like the scooters are out of control here in Columbus, it’s nothing compared to the nightmare in larger cities.
In Los Angeles, locals are fed-up with the scooters and have taken to vandalism to voice their anger. Some are simply breaking off kickstands, while other more extreme outbursts include setting scooters on fire or throwing them into the ocean.
While the outrage hasn’t reached that level here in Columbus, residents are still frustrated by the inconvenience of scooters on every street corner. Scooters are parked at street corners and are supposed to be out of the way, but more often then not, they’re found blocking handicap access or in the middle of the sidewalk, making it hard for people to navigate around them.