Thread by @shayshinecastle

New topic, new thread: Boulder wants to ban e-scooter biz for the next 9 months while it develops regulations. Here's why: The state passed legislation on May 9 to legalize them on the streets, outlawing them on the sidewalks.

Some solid gold things in the plans here, including staff-led demonstrations.

From the memo: "Public demonstration events will be instrumental in offering community members a supervised firsthand experience at riding an e-scooter on public streets to understand the nuances associated with how they handle, focusing on steering, acceleration and stopping."

The city's three big concerns are safety, cluttering the right-of-way, and environmental issues.

RE: Safety. Very few studies on that, but injuries are "prevalent" and a lot of scooter injuries are head injuries.

Some stats on injuries from a study out of Austin that involved the CDC:
271 people injured from Sept-Nov 2018
• 50% head injuries – preventable by wearing a helmet.
• 55% injured in the street.
• 33% on the sidewalk.
• 33% drank alcohol.

Very brief presentation from City Attorney Tom Carr. Staff is recommending the moratorium.

Yates: Would it be possible to do this before the current council adjourns in November? So a 6-month moratorium instead?

Would that give time for public engagement, etc.?
Kathleen Bracke, with transportation: We just want to make sure there's enough time to do a robust process, reach out to groups in community, work with boards/commissions.

But if council wants to do it in less time, we can try.
"The concern is short-changing it and not having enough time to get all stakeholders involved."

Boulder is already working on a program for dockless e-bikes. They started that *way* last year.. idk when, but I remember it being one of my earlier stories on council.

Morzel: We got email from Transportation Advisory Board, who didn't feel they had adequate time to discuss it. But they are recommending against a moratorium.

Why was TAB not brought in earlier?

RE: earlier tweet: It was June when council gave direction on dockless bikes. Almost 1 year ago! dailycamera.com/2018/06/13/bou…

Bracke: This issue was supposed to be before council on June 18, but we moved it up when the state passed its law (which takes effect in June) "All of this became accelerated bc of the quick action taken at the state legislature."

Lots of opportunities to work with TAB, Bracke says.

Boulder discussed scooters a bit earlier this year, when they chatted about lobbying at the state and federal level. Boulder was alone at the state in fighting against this.

Denver was pushing the state legislation, Carr says.
Isn't that bc companies dumped a bunch of scooters on the sidewalks in the city? Carlisle asks.

There was notification to the boards that this was something the city was interested in, Carlisle says, so it shouldn't have been a "complete" surprise.

Weaver: Denver has capped the number of scooters each company can have. They picked the companies they wanted, and then gradually increased the scooters on the streets.
(Boulder took a similar approach with dockless bikes, if I remember correctly.)

Weaver wants to see e-scooters be "treated like bikes."
"I would like to see them with a legal place to operate," along with other "micromobility" options. (bikes and scooters, mainly, but also things like Boosted boards.

Carr: Skateboards can be on private property, but they're not supposed to be on sidewalks and multi-use paths. (which is news to me)

Young bringing up environmental concerns. Staff notes said that e-scooters have a shelf life of less than 30 days on the street. (Also news to me.)

Bracke: Approx 30-day life cycle is concerning from a zero waste perspective.

Morzel: Whatever we do, it should include all micromobility options. Ppl are riding skateboards all over the place.

Moving to the public hearing. Two speakers!

Matt Frommer is back again, this time in the right place.
Moratorium is "a bad idea for a number of reasons." Wants a pilot program instead.

We're behind on our transportation goals, he says. "We need to do more to meet our climate goals" and e-scooters are a viable alternative, especially for trips of 5 miles or less.

Fairly certain that council/staff has said in the past that 80% of car trips in Boulder are 3 miles or less. I'll see if I can find that somewhere.

Frommer: "Why is Boulder so far behind? This is a technology that should have been invented in a place like Boulder."

His suggestions: Set a 15 mph speed limit, implement geofencing (keeps scooters in a certain area or at certain speeds) paint a couple parking spots and require companies to share data with transportation officials.

Andrea Meneghel, from the Chamber. "As long as it's managed appropriately, it's a valuable tool for addressing our first- and last-mile transit challenge."

"Let's get there quickly. Let's move forward with regulations and a small pilot."

"Let's try 10 scooters, maybe 20. Let's see what they do, see how they're used."

Carlisle asks for recommendations on regulations since, as a Chamber rep, he's been looking at the biz models.
Meneghel: Let's look at what's working in other cities. A lot of cities didn't do this right right away. But they're doing it now.

Apparently Bracke, one of our senior transportation ppl, lives in Fort Collins. What a freaking commute.

But Dave Kemp takes this q about what Fort Collins is doing: They're doing an RFP and are going to select one company to operate there.

Kemp: Interest in e-scooters is all over the board. I think it's important we take the time to do it well. Important to "get ppl on the scooters" all year-round.

Morzel: So do you envision this pilot project starting...
Kemp: Tomorrow.

So I'm not sure if Kemp is advocating FOR the moratorium or not...?

OK, so pilot programs would happen DURING the moratorium.
Maybe choose a business park, launch 20 scooters, set up geofencing, look at how it works, Kemp says.

Public hearing is over. Council is going to discuss now.

Young: I liked Frommer's suggestions, like a surcharge to fund public transit.
And Meneghel's to set up a pilot at, say, 55th/Arapahoe, to see if they get used for first/last mile, bc staff's memo says they are used primarily on Friday, weekends... not for commuting.

Carlisle: Placing this moratorium while we hear from the public and work out these issues has the benefit of seeing what other cities have done. "Until we go through the process.... before we're just swarmed with these scooters... is I think the responsible way to go."

Yates: If we do these demonstration events during a moratorium, do we need to carve that out?
Carr: No; it's just on giving business licenses to operators.

Yates in favor of a moratorium "I thought I would never say that out loud; this will be the first moratorium I will vote for ever."

I'm *fairly* certain this is the 4th moratorium council has considered since I started covering them 1 yr ago: Large homes/large lots, extending the height moratorium, opportunity zone and now e-scooters.

Am I missing any? It's hard to remember.

Yates wants a shorter moratorium, though, ending in October.
Young won't support, bc so many ppl are gone over the summer and won't be able to participate in the public process.

Weaver: I want this done quicker, but if staff finishes it faster we can end the moratorium (so OK with a 9-month).
This is not a punitive moratorium bc it's not taking away any rights that are already a right. It's about who gets to eventually do this thing that isn't legal yet

Weaver: I want them treated the same as bikes, along with all micro-mobility options. If e-scooters can only go 15 mph, why wouldn't we want them on the creek path?

Young not sold on that. "15 mph is pretty fast."
"That's the limit on the creek path," Weaver says.

Morzel: I agree with Bob. I would like to get this into our options of transportation as quickly as possible. I think the summer is a great time to be trying this out.

Morzel: I am concerned with waste; I would want to prioritize those companies that make durable, long-term scooters. Where are they charging? It needs to be a renewable source.

"I think we hurt ourselves by starting with a moratorium instead of just phasing this in over a period of time." Suggests that moratorium needs a re-brand to "phased in"

Carlisle moves to adopt the nine-month moratorium.

Yates: I'm worried about the headline here. Aren't you always, Yates.

I'LL WRITE THE HEADLINE I WANT TO WRITE, GODDAMN IT.

"We're not banning e-scooters," he reminds any reporters "who might be in the room."

But he makes a good point: This is just not issuing biz licenses to operators until Feb. 4, 2020. You can ride your own e-scooter on the streets when the governor signs that bill into law.

Weaver has his own idea for re-branding the word moratorium: "This is a policy pause."

Young: Let's make sure we outreach especially to the disability community, bc the scooters in Denver lie "helter skelter" all over the sidewalks, which makes it difficult for ppl in a wheelchair to navigate.

Everyone votes yes but Morzel. Passes 4-1.
Nine-month moratorium in place.

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