Electric scooters will be returning to Dallas, along with some new rules regarding their use.
The City’s electric scooters program was sunset in September 2020 due to concerns regarding public safety. Scooters would clutter up sidewalks when incorrectly parked and posed a danger to pedestrians when people would drive the scooters on sidewalks.
The City Council approved new rules regarding the scooter program in June. Some of these include designated times during which the scooters can be used and an age requirement in order to use them.
The City is still in the process of finalizing its contracts with the electric scooter companies, after which the program will be reactivated.
Dallas is partnering with Bird, Lime, and Superpedestrian, each of which will have around 500 vehicles.
The program is expected to start with 1,350 scooters, 100 seated scooters, 45 e-bikes, and five assisted scooters. Eventually, each scooter vending company will have the option of deploying 1,250 scooters.
The program will be reevaluated every 90 days to ensure that it does not become unsafe again and that the scooters are being used. The deployment of more scooters relies on the program getting good feedback during these evaluations.
Hours of operation for scooters will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Only those 16 years or older are permitted to operate the scooters. With new technology, the scooters will automatically shut off if riders attempt to use them in no-ride zones, such as the sidewalk, trails, parks, plazas, or roads with a speed limit of over 35 mph.
Additionally, the scooters will automatically slow down when in “slow-ride zones,” most of which are located in downtown Dallas.
Under the new regulations, the scooter companies will need to address all complaints within two hours.
Riders will need to view training materials if it is their first time using a scooter vendor’s app. Additionally, Lime will occasionally make users take a quiz on the rules to ensure that users know them.