Love-Hate Relationship With Scooters As Virginia Law Takes Effect

VIRGINIA — Washington, D.C., was the first local jurisdiction to latch on to the trend of e-scooters, or motorized devices available for rent through apps. Users unlock the devices to ride through the app and park them at locations like sidewalks. Some Northern Virginia localities followed DC's lead, but the scooters proved to be a divisive issue among those who see e-scooters as a useful new type of transportation and residents concerned about safety. Now a new state law is requiring other localities to catch up and regulate these devices.

Starting in 2020, new Virginia legislation will allow e-scooters even if localities don't adopt their own regulations. If a locality does adopt a regulation program, e-scooter companies such as Lime, Lyft and Uber's Jump must receive approval before deploying their e-scooters on the streets. These regulation programs usually require companies to secure a permit, pay associated fees and sign a memorandum of understanding.

The new Virginia law states:

Any county, city, town, or political subdivision may (i) by ordinance regulate or (ii) by any governing body action or administrative action establish a demonstration project or pilot program regulating the operation of motorized skateboards or scooters, bicycles, or electric power-assisted bicycles for hire, provided that such regulation or other governing body or administrative action is consistent with this title. Such ordinance or other governing body or administrative action may require persons offering motorized skateboards or scooters, bicycles, or electric power-assisted bicycles for hire to be licensed, provided that on or after January 1, 2020, in the absence of any licensing ordinance, regulation, or other action, a person may offer motorized skateboards or scooters, bicycles, or electric power-assisted bicycles for hire.

As these devices have popped up in cities around the U.S., reports of injuries—and sometimes fatalities—have circulated in the news. A three-month study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Austin, Texas, found a 14.3 per 100,000 trips injury rate among e-scooter riders.

In the localities that have adopted programs, the most common concern has been improper parking of devices, which in some cases can involve devices blocking sidewalks. A few months into the City of Alexandria's e-scooter regulation program, Patch reader Donna Lopez said jurisdictions need to rethink their policies to address safety. "Preserving life and health should be front and center and issues like distracted driving in all areas, including Old Town needs to be critical factors in any policy forecast or calculation," she wrote on Old Town Alexandria Patch's neighbor post page.

Del Ray Patch Margo Williams shared concerns with devices blocking sidewalks, but sees more riding in DC. "In downtown DC, they go too fast on busy sidewalks, weaving amongst pedestrians, although I have seen few riders in Alexandria - only the scattered scooters," she wrote.

Reader Linda Kelly said her opinion would be more favorable if devices are properly parked. "I would like them better if they needed to be returned to a dock, like the city bikes," she wrote on Del Ray's neighbor post page. "The scooters look like trash scattered everywhere and are a dangerous nuisance when they are left on the sidewalk or fall over and are left there."

Localities are taking different approaches to parking, riding on sidewalks, speed limits and other aspects. Here's a look at what Northern Virginia jurisdictions are doing to regulate these devices and key concerns from the early programs:

Alexandria

The City of Alexandria had a head start on e-scooters, as it adopted a pilot program that began in January 2019. According to an evaluation report of the first year, the city had 230,000 scooter trips within the first nine months and 15,000 registered users. There were 15 crashes reported, 18 minor injuries and three suspected serious injuries.

There were lessons learned as residents flooded the city with concerns about improper parking, riding safety and more. In December, the City Council approved a phase two pilot program with modifications for 2020, addressing some bumps in the initial program.

Public feedback led the City Council to ban e-scooter riding on sidewalks for its phase two pilot program. Groups such as the Old Town Civic Association and Commission On Aging were vocal about keeping scooter riding off sidewalks, citing safety of the elderly, disabled and other pedestrians.

The issue of parking improperly also drew some criticism and action; about 66 percent of complaints to the city were parking related. Alexandria now designates parking corrals where scooters can be parked instead of surrounding sidewalks. For the time being, the locations are in Old Town, but city staff are exploring potential locations in Del Ray, Carlyle and Potomac Yard.

Certain areas are geofenced, meaning riders cannot end their trips and park in these areas. These include the King Street Metro Station area under construction, Market Square, City Marina, Founders Park and Waterfront Park.

Another major change to the pilot program addresses equity. E-scooter companies were asked to designate specific percentages of devices to deploy to underserved areas, particularly West End Alexandria. The area west of Quaker Lane and east of I-395 would get 15 percent of deployed devices, the area west of I-395 would get 10 percent, and Arlandria would get 5 percent.

Arlington County

After DC took the lead on e-scooters in the region, the devices came across the Potomac River in 2018 to Arlington County. In the first nine months of the pilot, there were over 453,000 e-scooter trips, or 1.7 times the number of Capital Bikeshare trips in all of 2018 in Arlington. The first nine months included 68 crashes and 31 injuries.

A modified ordinance for 2020 addresses some concerns found during the first year of e-scooters in Arlington. The county received 884 responses about improperly parked devices blocking pedestrian access in sidewalks, driveways and common-use areas. Parking corrals have been installed at nine high demand locations: the Ballston Metro, Virginia Square Metro, Courthouse Metro, Rosslyn Metro, Lynn Street and Fairfax Drive, Pentagon City Metro, Crystal City Metro, Columbia Pike and South Edgewood Street, and South Clark Street and South Glebe Road.

Areas have been geofenced so riders cannot end scooter trips there — property owned by the federal government, certain county parks, and the vicinity of Arlington Public Schools. Some property managers and condo board associations have asked for parking restrictions on their properties, while others worked with e-scooter companies to designate scooter parking areas. Parking violations can result in a $50 civil penalty.

Like Alexandria, Arlington County also seeks to address equity. The modified ordinance sets a minimum of 15 percent of devices to be deployed to locations outside the highly utilized Rosslyn-Ballston and Richmond Highway Metro corridor.

Fairfax City

The City of Fairfax launched its pilot program in the summer, which could be considered the height of e-scooter riding season. In July and August alone, there were 7,800 trips in the city with an average trip distance of one mile. According to an October update to City Council, no injuries were reported to the fire department, and one was reported by an e-scooter company.

E-scooters cannot be used on sidewalks similar to bikes, but they're banned from trails unlike bikes. The devices can be used in the roads and bike lanes. George Mason University collaborates with the city on the pilot program and sets its own rules for the campus.

The city allows business and property owners to establish parking areas for e-scooters and restrict parking inside their buildings. Those who find devices on their property are asked to move them to public areas or call the companies for removal.

The pilot program runs through June 30, 2020, but the city can adopt a modified program with evaluation beginning in the spring.

Fairfax County

In Virginia's most populous county, the Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance regulating e-scooters rather than a pilot program. The program comes after public testimony in support of e-scooters from Tysons Partnership and other stakeholders in Tysons, one of the county's growing urban centers. E-scooter regulation will be overseen by the Department of Cable and Consumer Services, which will also accept resident feedback.

Rebecca Makely, director of the Consumer Services Division for the department, says companies can begin applying in person on Jan. 1. Companies must go through a permitting process, which includes requesting certificates for each e-scooter—devices will be tag-based with individual IDs.
Companies are allowed up to 300 e-scooters to deploy initially. Up to 150 more can be requested at a time if devices have three daily trips over a three-month period. The cap for devices is 600 per company.

The speed limit for e-scooters is 10 mph. According to Chris Wells of the county's Department of Transportation, companies can control speed limits of devices through mechanical means. In other words, they can control speed if the limit differs among local jurisdictions.

County staff are exploring riding and parking bans in certain areas using signage. For now, riders have the same rights and responsibilities as bicyclists under state law. "Absent of signage, [riders] can operate on roadways, sidewalks and shared-use paths," said Makely.

Staff will evaluate the first year of the ordinance and give a presentation to the Board of Supervisors in spring 2021. Concerns about e-scooters in Fairfax County can be directed to consumer@fairfaxcounty.gov.

Towns of Vienna and Herndon

Vienna, a town with its own governing body within Fairfax County, set its own pilot program. It looked at other regulation programs as models, particularly the nearby City of Fairfax.

Andrew Jinks, a transportation engineer with Vienna's public works department, says companies will be allowed to deploy 150 devices to start. But that may not be the number companies actually request. "What we have found in other localities in the area is that operators place fewer to begin with to see what the demand is," he told Patch. Companies can apply for more devices if they demonstrate a certain amount of daily use.

Jinks doesn't anticipate high demand for e-scooters in Vienna. He sees the pilot program as an opportunity to evaluate safety and operation in the town. Residents can expect to see scooters in the early spring.

Because Vienna is near the busy Tysons corridor and the Vienna-Fairfax Metro station, the town plans to coordinate with Fairfax County. If the same companies apply to operate in Fairfax County and the Town of Vienna, riders can start and end trips in both jurisdictions.

The policy for riding locations is similar to bikes. In other words, if riders feel unsafe on a street, they should ride on a sidewalk.

Like Vienna, the Town of Herndon is working to implement its own regulations. In the absence of such regulations, Fairfax County's ordinance applies. The Town of Herndon's ordinance applies once it's adopted.

Falls Church

Falls Church City Council voted to adopt a pilot program regulating e-scooters to start in 2020. Companies will begin applying at that time, but City Manager Wyatt Shields says residents shouldn't expect to see e-scooters until the spring. City staff recommended an initial deployment of 25 devices each and a maximum of 50 devices. Staff recommended a maximum speed of 20 mph for motorized bicycles and 15 mph for motorized scooters on the street and 6 mph on the sidewalk.

Whether or not scooter riding will be allowed on sidewalks has yet to be decided. At a December meeting, City Attorney Carol McCoskrie advised council that an ordinance already exists banning motorized devices on sidewalks. An ordinance addressing where riders can use motorized devices will likely go to council early in 2020.

Council members were divided on whether to allow sidewalk riding, with some citing safety concerns of riding on roads.