No, the e-scooters aren't banned. But Cincinnati City Council wants more accountability.

Cincinnati: No ban on e-scooters, but more accountability needed from companies

Cincinnati City Council isn't ready to ban electric scooters on city streets.

But a long public conversation Tuesday resulted in Council's request that the city hold companies accountable for misuse by riders. The city also asked city transportation officials to work on street upgrades that would make streets a safer place for scooters and bikes.

The debate comes as the city is in the midst of working out new operating agreements with Bird and Lime Bike, the two companies that operate the roughly 400 electric scooters in Cincinnati. Councilman Mark Jeffreys urged writing accountability into the contracts in which the companies could be fined for the scooters that are being used in violation of city rules.

The contracts should be worked out within 60 days, Cincinnati Department Director of Transportation and Engineering John Brazina said.

"Safety is job one," said Councilman Scotty Johnson, chairman of the Law and Public Safety Committee, where the issue was discussed Tuesday. "We are very serious about how people operate bikes, scooters, cars, motorcycles."

One thing was clear from the discussion: There was no enthusiasm for banning the scooters. Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney and councilmembers Reggie Harris and Jeffreys all suggested street improvements as a better solution.

Several citizens spoke, saying the scooters presented a danger to pedestrians on sidewalks, where riders use them despite that fact that scooters are only to be operated in the street.

"We don't want people in the neighborhoods to think we're going to just throw our hands up," Lemon Kearney said.

Last month, after months of complaints about people using electric scooters in ways they weren't intended, city of Cincinnati officials began locking them overnight from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Representatives of the companies attended the meeting and said they are working on better mapping technology that will help keep scooters off the sidewalks.

Brazina said there is a lot of data that goes into helping the companies geofence the electric scooters, which allows control of where they can be operated.

Councilwoman Liz Keating pressed for timelines. Nothing specific was given.

The discussion came on the heels of an April 22 meeting between city transportation officials, police and the companies that operate electric scooters in the city.

Notes from the meeting, provided by the city, show it was supposed to be a discussion about complaints about bad behavior, underage riders and geofencing capabilities, but it ended with a hold on any new agreements with the scooter operators.

There was consideration given to terminating the electric scooter program and implementing a total ban on them within city limits, which prompted the council conversation.

According to the memo, complaints have increased and include:

• Underage riding.

• Riding on the sidewalk.

• Riding the wrong way on one-way streets.

• Riding after the city's 11 p.m. curfew.

• Riding on private property and in unauthorized areas, including parking garages.

• Riding while engaged in, and support of, criminal activity.

• Intrusive parking.

One solution discussed was creating curb lanes. But this, and other solutions, would require a new fleet of scooters with better GPS capabilities and better ability to geofence the scooters to permitted places only, the memo said.

Bird launched in Cincinnati in July of 2018, followed by Lime Bike.

An Enquirer report in December found the scooters are causing very few accidents and injuries.

Downtown businesses were recently warned by police that people had been riding the electric scooters into parking garages, where the rider would then break into cars and quickly escape.

Electric scooter use is regulated by the city of Cincinnati

•Two companies have operating agreements with the city: Bird and Lime Bike.

•Rules regulate electric scooter operation and parking. Electric scooters are banned from sidewalks, a top complaint about the scooters.

•The rules ban electric scooters in Riverfront, Over-the-Rhine and Downtown parks via technology that disables the scooters in certain areas.

•Electric scooter speed is capped at 15 mph and 10 mph in The Banks' designated outdoor refreshment area.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: No ban on electric scooters like Bird, Lime by Cincinnati City Council