Most Warrenton Town Council members expressed openness Tuesday to the concept of pursuing an electric-scooter rental program on the town. The ventures have turn out to be in style in lots of Northern Virginia cities and cities in recent times, and an organization approached Warrenton city officers this spring about implementing a program.
Bird, a California-based firm that runs electric-scooter and bicycle rental applications in dozens of cities around the globe, approached Warrenton city officers in April; an inter-departmental work group led by Warrenton Police Chief Mike Kochis has been finding out the framework proposal since May. Bird already runs scooter rental applications in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax and Washington, D.C.
The electrical scooters would be rented utilizing a smartphone app and dropped off at “parking corrals” round city, though there isn’t any want to “dock” the scooters at a selected level, in accordance to an explainer doc revealed by the city’s work group. An organization consultant would be accountable for recharging the scooters. Under state regulation, rental scooters might not have a high pace over 20 miles per hour.
An electrical scooter rental firm approached Warrenton officers this spring about beginning a rental program within the city; the scooters would be rented utilizing a smartphone app. The Warrenton Town Council is contemplating the problem.
The challenge at hand shouldn’t be whether or not to enable electrical scooters on the town; the city has no authority below state regulation to ban electric-assisted scooters or bicycles outright, and their use is permitted by state regulation on streets with pace limits of 25 miles per hour or much less by anybody 14 years or older.
Beyond these constraints, the city has some latitude to regulate using electrical scooters usually. Currently, city of Warrenton ordinances don’t prohibit using electrical scooters on sidewalks, as an example, however the city council could prohibit utilizing electrical scooters on some or all sidewalks. Electric-powered autos — together with scooters and bicycles — are already prohibited on the county-owned Warrenton Branch Greenway.
An settlement with a rental firm like Bird could include particular restrictions on its gadgets. Bird’s software program, as an example, could make its rental scooters inoperable in sure elements of city.
Alexandria entered into agreements with a number of scooter-rental corporations, together with Bird, starting in 2019. The subsequent 12 months, town banned using electrical scooters on all sidewalks. Similarly, town of Fairfax bans using electric-assisted autos on all sidewalks and trails. Alexandria additionally labored with the businesses to make rental scooters inoperable in notably congested areas.
“We’re already beginning to see these scooters on our streets,” mentioned Mayor Carter Nevill on Tuesday. “We are beginning to see private ownership; they are becoming more affordable.” Even if the city doesn’t finally pursue an settlement with Bird for a large-scale rental program, he added, “I think we need to be having this discussion about how we are going to address — and be welcoming to — [electric scooters].”
An instance of one of many electrical scooters rented by way of Bird’s smartphone app
Most city council members finally agreed Tuesday morning to discover additional an settlement with Bird and to have a look at laws about electrical scooters extra broadly. “This is not a commitment to fulfilling this agreement [with Bird] or bringing these scooters to town,” mentioned Nevill. The subsequent step is to have Bird representatives current extra particulars about what a rental program could seem like, he mentioned, and discover authorized points like legal responsibility.
“This is a reality we have to address,” mentioned Nevill. He identified {that a} enterprise just like the Bike Stop, as an example, could lease electrical scooters or bicycles with none approvals wanted from the city, emphasizing once more that many individuals personal electrical scooters already.
“We’re going to have to do it one way or another, whether it’s Bird or private individuals,” mentioned Town Attorney Whit Robinson of exploring a regulatory framework for electrical scooters usually. He mentioned he wants to converse with attorneys from different localities which have already carried out a scooter-rental program just like the one proposed by Bird.
If the city does pursue an settlement with Bird, Robinson mentioned, the corporate would most probably want to use public areas for its “corral parking” areas, giving the city leverage to negotiate particular particulars of the rental scooters’ use.
Police chief solutions questions
Chief Kochis answered questions from council members Tuesday morning. Having labored for the Alexandria Police Department earlier than coming to Warrenton, he has direct expertise with a scooter rental program just like the one proposed by Bird.
Kochis mentioned that initially, Alexandria and different cities had many complaints about scooters being left in random locations.
But corporations like Bird have since addressed this challenge, he mentioned, with using designated drop-off factors and by hiring “fleet managers” to be the corporate’s level of contact to deal with any points with scooters being dropped off at inappropriate places. (According to Bird’s web site, the corporate’s app has a built-in function to “submit complaints directly to our team and … address any issues that arise right away.”)
Warrenton Police Chief Mike Kochis speaks to city council members throughout a March 9 work session.
“This new program — I’ve spoken to Manassas city, Fairfax city; I’ve spoken to the chief in Alexandria — I think that’s changed with this new fleet management program,” mentioned Kochis. “I think that model seems to work much better than the one they used to have.”
Kochis additionally addressed issues of safety. In response to a query from Councilman Bill Semple (Ward 2), who mentioned that his pals in Washington, D.C. say that electrical scooters are a “disaster” and harmful for pedestrians, Kochis mentioned that his discussions with police chiefs within the space don’t point out a excessive stage of crashes involving the scooters.
“They have not seen a lot of [crashes],” mentioned Kochis. “The numbers don’t stand out.”
Because large-scale electrical scooter rental applications are comparatively new, there’s little long-term analysis on the problem. A 2018 research commissioned by the Austin, Texas well being division discovered that 14.3 crashes per 100,000 journeys occurred involving rental electrical scooters, although the research’s authors mentioned that it “likely underestimates the prevalence of e-scooter related injuries.”
Kochis did say that permitting the scooters on sidewalks would most probably be problematic, pointing to a 2017 “walkability audit” that discovered that many city sidewalks have been too slender. That research discovered that many sidewalks “barely [meet] accessibility standards, which makes using a stroller or wheelchair difficult, if not impossible.”
Educating the neighborhood on the allowable makes use of and greatest practices of the scooters would be key, mentioned Kochis. “When you look at the [electric scooter] programs that are out there and have really been successful, they did a really robust education campaign.”
The city work group report beneficial “an education and communication campaign be initiated to include familiarity with the devices” if the council decides to pursue an settlement with Bird, together with alternatives for members of the general public to strive the scooters for themselves. “This will also serve as a way to receive feedback from the community on the program,” mentioned the work group’s report.
Council members typically supportive
“We are either a community that continues to say ‘no’ to everything, or we are a community that lives up to our comp plan,” mentioned Vice Mayor Sean Polster (at-large), referencing the complete plan’s emphasis on selling transportation choices past motor autos on the town. “I’m 100% on board.”
Polster mentioned that he explored the potential of a rental scooter program a number of years in the past however was informed that Warrenton was too small to maintain that mannequin. “I think that [Bird] reached out to us is beneficial. … I think there are opportunities here.”
Councilwoman Heather Sutphin (Ward 1) agreed. “These things I think would be a really good option for folks who have a hard time getting around,” she mentioned, referencing her husband’s mobility points.
Both Sutphin and Polster mentioned that having rental scooters available would capitalize on already-successful occasions just like the weekly farmers market, encouraging individuals to discover the city and companies. Polster mentioned he would really like to discover permitting golf carts on roads within the city sooner or later.
Councilman Bill Semple (Ward 2) was the one member to specific outright opposition to the concept. “We get these gadgets — it’s another silly way to do something,” he mentioned, expressing concern that youngsters would be a number of the main customers of the scooters, that the scooters would intrude with pedestrians and that individuals would use the scooters on the Warrenton Branch Greenway regardless of the prohibitions on electric-assisted autos there.
Polster later addressed Semple’s concern about youngsters. “I have no doubt that this will be one of the most popular modes of transportation that will both benefit them and our community. … At the end of the day, they are the next generation,” Polster mentioned. He prompt that the city could do particular outreach to college students at Fauquier High School if the council finally decides to transfer ahead with the Bird program.