The City Council on May 25 voted 4-0 to approve the first reading of the ordinance, which would go into effect should it pass a second vote June 8.
Only four members of the council were present during the May 25 meeting to vote on the ordinance. Council Member Bill Peterson was absent due to illness.
The ordinance, as crafted by Police Chief Clint Nagy, defines how and where these modes of transportation can be used in the city, while also providing guidelines for companies that seek to provide electric bicycle, GPS-equipped bicycle or motor-assisted scooter services in Bastrop.
During council discussion of the proposed ordinance, Mayor Connie Schroeder said having an ordinance in place to regulate electric bicycles and motor-assisted scooters was something she brought up to City Manager Paul Hofmann shortly after he joined the city last August.
She said the need for the ordinance comes as The Art Institute of Austin prepares to welcome students to its new Main Street location and as people resume normal activities as new coronavirus cases and deaths decline.
“It’s not if the scooter businesses are coming, it’s when,” Schroeder said. “This is trying to put it out there for the conversations so that if we want those kinds of businesses to come, that they have a framework to operate within.”
The new ordinance would regulate electric bicycles and motor-assisted scooters that are rented for a fee, and not affect use of personal e-bikes or scooters or other vehicles like golf carts, mopeds or motorcycles.
Chapter 551 of Texas Transportation Code regulates the use of electric bicycles and scooters, but it also guides what local governments can and can’t regulate.
Cities are allowed to regulate and control the operation of electric bicycles and motor-assisted scooters within a its legal boundaries and on its public streets and sidewalks, in an effort to ensure public safety.
“The main purpose is to provide a convenient and safe means of travel by these devices by our citizens and also our visitors,” Nagy said. “We want to make sure we protect those persons and public safety is a No. 1 priority. If we can meet that priority, we can meet the focus goal of council for multimobility.”
WHAT'S IN THE RULES
Riders of electric bicycles, GPS-equipped bicycles and motor-assisted scooters must yield to pedestrians, obey traffic laws and are encouraged, but not required, to wear helmets, according to the proposed ordinance.
The ordinance also states that no passengers are permitted on the vehicles, the person operating the vehicle must be at least 16 years old and the vehicles can only operate on streets which have a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less.
The motor-assisted scooters are allowed to operate on sidewalks, while the electric and GPS-equipped bicycles are not.
Newly-elected Council Member Jimmy Crouch raised concerns about potential city liability for injuries sustained while riding a scooter on a city sidewalk, but City Attorney Alan Bojorquez said the only exception to the city’s immunity that could occur on a public sidewalk would be the result of a defect on the premises.
“We’re doing construction and we dig a hole. Well, then we have a duty to fence off that hole, put a sign around that hole, something like that. The fact the sidewalk may be in poor condition or it has worn does not itself create liability for the city,” Bojorquez said, noting the same logic would apply to a pothole in the street.
The proposed ordinance states it would be illegal for riders to park the vehicles on streets, except in areas designated by the city.
Parking the vehicles upright on sidewalks would be allowed, as long as it doesn’t impede pedestrian access or reduce the width of sidewalks to less than 3 feet.
Additionally, parking the vehicles on a sidewalk would be illegal if done within 8 feet of commercial or pedestrian loading zones; within 4 feet of street fixtures that require pedestrian access, like benches; within 8 feet of curb ramps, entryways and driveways; within 8 feet of building entrances; or in a way that blocks access to sidewalks or streets as prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
It would also be illegal to park the vehicles on trails or creek ways in any city park.
For riders to be allowed to operate the vehicles at night, the ordinance calls for a front lamp capable of being seen from 500 feet away, a red reflector or a red lamp in the rear and a working bell, horn or other sound mechanism.
The dockless vehicles wouldn’t be allowed to be operated between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., and the ordinance calls for permit holders — the companies operating the vehicle services — to make the vehicles inoperable during those hours.
Nagy also explained to the council that usually an employee of the company or a subcontractor will gather the vehicles at night and charge them, before returning them to a predetermined staging area in the morning.
Crouch initially said the vehicles should only be charged in locations like a business or in a commercial zone, rather than in someone’s home or in a residential neighborhood, but he later backed down from this request.
“I don’t want to restrict anyone from making a profit or making a living,” Crouch said.
Nagy said that if someone charging the vehicles in a residential area were to create a nuisance while doing so, it would give the police department leverage to take action.
People found in violation of the the ordinance could be charged with a Class C Misdemeanor and may face a fine up to $500 for each offense.
SCOOTERS IN BASTROP
In order for the vehicles to be allowed in Bastrop, a permit agreement must be registered for and obtained from the city.
An application for the permit agreement would include a non-refundable $500 annual business permit fee as well as a non-refundable $50 annual permit fee for each dockless vehicle.
The registration process would also require information on fleet management and the number of vehicles that would be brought to the city.
Council Member Drusilla Rogers said she would like to see a limit placed on the number of scooters that could be brought into the city, as well as a limit on the number of scooter companies.
Bojorquez said this could result in Bastrop entering into a competitive proposal process in the future to determine which companies can operate in the city.
Schroeder used this as a springboard to stress the importance of thinking about where to create city-designated parking space for the vehicles.
Potential parking options suggested during council discussion included behind the Art Institute's building at 921 Main St. and at the Bastrop Convention Center.
Council Member Lyle Nelson initially expressed hesitancy at adopting the ordinance because of difficulties that other Central Texas cities, specifically San Marcos, have had regulating these vehicles, he said.
In May 2020, the San Marcos City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the placement and use of motor-assisted scooters owned by commercial scooter companies on public property, although the council has since shifted its stance on commercial scooters.
In September 2020, Texas State University and the city of San Marcos worked with Spin, a dockless scooter company, to deploy 200 scooters across the university's campus and in the city.
In reassuring Nelson, Nagy said he consulted with the city attorney’s office and modeled the ordinance on current best practices and other recent ordinances related to bicycles and scooters that “stand up.”
“A lot of these ordinances have had to have been amended because it’s such a new product and it can be difficult to manage,” Nagy said. “But I think that we are ahead of the game on that.”
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