The Goshen Common Council approved an ordinance Monday to regulate shared-use electric foot scooters, such as Bird scooters.
Mayor Jeremy Stutsman said city officials had been discussing the possibility of an ordinance, but the conversation was accelerated by the approach of Two-Wheel Rental, a small scooter rental company operated by Goshen native John Bontrager.
“I was not interested in having scooters in our community because of what I’ve seen in other communities until I heard how he’s going to operate and what he’s going to be doing with his company,” Mayor Jeremy Stutsman told the council Monday.
Two-Wheel Rental is based in Fort Wayne but also operates in Bourbon, Indiana, and Sarasota, Florida.
Bontrager told the council that his company operates about 40 scooters on a seasonal basis from May to October.
“Our main goal with this is to not be a public disturbance, as far as scattering them across the streets and sidewalks and whatnot,” he said. “We’re more looking at having a hub, like at charging stations… that’s kind of our approach.”
Deputy Mayor Mark Brinson acknowledged skepticism about allowing the scooters, but said an ordinance would allow the city to have more control over the process.
“Rather than wait for someone to come and dump hundreds of scooters at one time — which has happened in many communities, they just appear overnight — we want to be a little more proactive,” he said. “We can vet potential operators, look at their history [and] find out more about… what kind of track results they’ve had in other communities.”
The ordinance only applies to scooter rental companies, not privately owned electric foot scooters.
Operators would have to apply for a one-year license through the board of public works. The city reserves the right to limit the number of licenses it grants.
Applications would have to include detailed operational plans, maps of the proposed service area, proof of insurance, proposed docking station locations and a summary of the company’s experience providing scooter rental.
Scooters from licensed operators would be allowed to operate between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on all roads and paths where bicycles are permitted. Scooter speeds would have to max out at 20 miles per hour.
“I think that usage will be different than it is in a big city,” Stutsman said. “We’re not a town where you’re necessarily going to rent one to go from Snyder’s to Woldruff’s down to grab some ice cream. But we are a town that they might rent one to go around the town and enjoy themselves, or local people are going to grab them to go from downtown to the college.”
The ordinance says scooters must be parked and stored at designated locations when not in use. If parked on the sidewalk, scooters must not block traffic, doorways, window displays, curb ramps or city infrastructure like fire hydrants and utility poles.
The operator would be responsible for disciplining repeat parking offenders through education, warnings, fines and, potentially, cancellation of service.
The city would also require operators’ rental apps to display information about helmet use, traffic laws, proper parking and yielding to pedestrians. Scooters must be equipped with brakes, a horn, front and rear lamps and a kickstand.
Council members expressed hesitancy about allowing electric scooters to operate in Goshen, but ultimately passed the ordinance unanimously.
“There’s no question in my mind that we need this ordinance. There’s no question because I don’t want just anybody to dump these things all over the city,” council president Brett Weddell said during discussion. “I just don’t know if scooters are the right thing for the city. So it’s a tough one for me.”
Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo.
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