{"id":434,"date":"2018-10-16T12:38:59","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T12:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.duke.edu\/9thstreetjournal\/?p=434"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:14","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:14","slug":"scooters-coming-to-durham-but-questions-linger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2018\/10\/16\/scooters-coming-to-durham-but-questions-linger\/","title":{"rendered":"Scooters coming to Durham, but questions linger"},"content":{"rendered":"

A scooter swarm will soon be coming to Durham. <\/span><\/p>\n

After weeks of deliberations, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to regulate the use of motorized scooters Monday night. At least 100 Bird scooters will hit the streets once the company receives permits\u2014although there could be more. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt always depend on the size of city,\u201d said Servando Esparza, senior manager of government relations for Bird. \u201cOur deployments and growth are based on demand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Residents can \u201crealistically\u201d expect to be able to ride scooters in 2019, transportation planner Bryan Poole <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> the Durham Herald-Sun.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many questions still have to be worked out, though. <\/span><\/p>\n

Esparza couldn\u2019t give a definitive answer on whether Bird would be able to accept Faith ID\u2019s\u2014identification for undocumented, Spanish-speaking residents, provided by <\/span><\/p>\n

El Centro Hispano, a local Hispanic advocacy and social services organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

That frustrated council member Mark-Anthony Middleton, who said he had pushed Bird representatives for an answer to that question during the council\u2019s work session Oct. 4. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis council was very concerned the accessibility of the scooters, and ID was one of those factors that could curtail access. A lot of people don\u2019t have driver\u2019s licenses,\u201d Middleton said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Esparza also said that he couldn\u2019t give an estimate on when he would be able to provide the council with an answer. The ordinance does not have a requirement that permittees accept certain forms of identification. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to continue to push vendors to make scooters as accessible as possible,\u201d said council member Charlie Reece. <\/span><\/p>\n

Companies will be required to drop a “sufficient number” of scooters within “low and moderate income areas…as defined in the permit.” The city will also require companies to accept diverse payment types, including methods for those without smartphones or credit cards. <\/span><\/p>\n

There also had been controversy about whether scooters would be defined as mopeds under North Carolina law, but that was not resolved by the new ordinance. <\/span><\/p>\n

Scooters may be deemed mopeds, which would require them to have license plates, lights and rearview mirrors. Bird and Lime bikes do not have rearview mirrors or license plates, but they do have lights. <\/span><\/p>\n

The ordinance was changed to <\/span>define<\/span><\/a> the scooters as “‘vehicles’ (without reference to mopeds).” <\/span><\/p>\n

However, it still <\/span>requires<\/span><\/a> the companies to \u201ccomply with applicable local, state and federal laws, including state equipment and registration requirements.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Senior City Attorney Fred Lamar says that it is up to the state, not the city, \u00a0to regulate vehicle use on the roadways. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not heard anything definitively from the DMV,\u201d Lamar said. \u201cThere are lawyers that don\u2019t think it\u2019s a moped.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The ordinance requires that riders wear helmets. <\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not clear how much the police will actually enforce that provision or any other aspect of the law. The police department said in a statement that it will \u201caddress violations of the law that present an obvious and immediate risk to public safety.<\/span><\/p>\n

Addressing violations may entail notice to the Transportation Department so that it may pursue civil penalties against the business owners\/operators,\u201d the statement <\/span>read<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, since scooter riders aren\u2019t required to carry a license, the police department is limited in the type of citations it could issue. The statement continued, \u201c \u2026 the Police Department does not anticipate being the primary agent for the regulation of these devices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Durham\u2019s ordinance only requires that scooter drivers be 16 years old, Bird\u2019s policies require drivers to be 18 years old. The ordinance leaves the decision for any age requirement above 16 up to the company, Poole said\u2014a policy Bird does not plan on changing, Esparza said, noting that in most cities, the age requirement is 18. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The new ordinance also attempts to address the piles of scooters that may be left behind\u2014something painfully familiar to what the city saw with Lime and Spin bikes. Companies will be required to move their scooters before they are parked in the same spot for 72 hours. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission noted in a Sept. 18 <\/span>letter<\/span><\/a> that the Transportation Department is planning to create designated parking spots for shared bikes and scooters. <\/span><\/p>\n

The city will <\/span>charge<\/span><\/a> $1,000 for companies to apply for permits\u00a0and will charge $100 per shared scooter that hits the streets. It also will charge $50 for electric-assisted bikes and $25 for bikes that aren’t blessed with electric assistance.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A scooter swarm will soon be coming to Durham. After weeks of deliberations, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to regulate the use of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-in-durham","category-local-government","tag-bicycling-and-scooters","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nScooters coming to Durham, but questions linger - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2018\/10\/16\/scooters-coming-to-durham-but-questions-linger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scooters coming to Durham, but questions linger - 9th Street Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A scooter swarm will soon be coming to Durham. 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